Lagavulin A Year Late

One year late to the party, but better late than never. Managed to buy the Lagavulin 12 from 2016's Special Release at a price just marginally higher than the Lagavulin 16. I was initially wavering over whether I should buy it there and then, or wait a day to think it over. But sales manager informed me that the price tag was wrong, and will be corrected once I walk out of the shop. It's rare that I'm pressured into underpaying for an item, but I'm thankful for having this celebratory bottling on my shelf.

The Lagavulin 12 is part of Diageo's annual Special Release, and is one of the most affordable of the lot. Doesn't make it any less special, since Lagavulin's normal offering is at 16 years old. This is pretty much a classic argument that older isn't always better, and a good young whisky has much to offer that an older bottle cannot.

This one continues my peated sequence of tastings. Let's see how this works out.

Lagavulin 12, 200th Anniversary, 2016 Special Release (57.7% abv)


Colour - Moscato wine

Nose - Big pepper, smoke, and peat rolling out of the glass. Salt, some custard cream, lemons, wet rocks. Big Lagavulin. The youth gives it a punch that the 16 lacks.

Palate - Smoked meat, roasted pork, cinnamon, pines, lemon, and lots of smoke. Peaty too, like moss. The peat feels a little different from what I remember Lagavulin peat to be, but it is big. Gentler, but big. Mm. Salted butter, and tobacco.

Finish - Good and long, with finally some dryness coming in together with spice and oak. Pepper, candied ginger.

Overall - My first ever Special Release purchase (and I think I'm only ever going to be able to afford this and the Caol Ila), but it's really good Lagavulin. Youth means that it isn't superbly complex, but there's a visceral enjoyment in watching a young one land a good, hard straight punch. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this one with Nick Offerman.

Lagavulin 8

Lagavulin 8, 200th Anniversary bottling (abv 48%)

Anniversary bottlings are usually old, very old. Stock taken from the first batch ever matured, something that is representative of all that's good and great about the distillery, and the whole works. So, when Lagavulin released an 8 year old as their anniversary bottling, my eyebrows were raised. That's awfully young, and reflects a great confidence in the quality of the spirit by the guys at the distillery (and Diageo).

The story goes that some time ago, some famous person tried an exceptionally fine 8 year whisky from the distillery. So they're taking inspiration from that, and bottling this at 8 years of age.

I'm a fan of the distillery, and I was quite excited to try this. PY got a bottle of it, and was generous enough to bring it to our tasting session last night for AM and I to get a sip. Here's my impression of it.

Colour: Pale. Pale white wine. Beautiful colour for a young whisky. No fireworks done using casks that impart a darker colour, so I'm expecting something very spirit driven.

Nose: Sharp and smoky. This isn't peaty or deep like the 16, but much fresher. Fresh, cutting lemons, smoke, a little bit of pepper and spice, more smoke and citrus. Some smoked meat as well.

Palate: Big smoke. I like how this smoke is very clean, like tobacco without all the nicotine and other dirty stuff. Clean smoke from good wood or tobacco. Lemons again, maybe more lemon peel or orange peel. The sour-ness still cuts, but is balanced out by sweetness of the malt/barley. This is top-notch distillate allowed to shine in its own right, without any obvious wood characteristics, except for perhaps a thin layer of wood tannins.

Finish: Charred wood, phenolic and slight taste of burnt veggies - the peat finally makes itself felt at the end. How polite. Dominant notes are still of smoke and some wood tannins. Fairly long and warming.

Overall: I really like this. If it were available at DFS, I would have bought one. But alas. Great stuff, must buy if still available at a non-ridiculous price. I think this squeezes into the Hall of Fame!

Thanks PY!

Lagavulin 16

Picture from Master of Malt

The Lagavulin 16 was, I think, the first Islay's I've ever tasted. It came as part of a tasting flight of Islay's at the Auld Alliance. Other whiskies in the flight included Bowmore 12, Caol Ila 12, Ardbeg 10, and Laphroaig 10. Of the 5, the Lagavulin 16 was my favourite.

One of the amazing things about the Lagavulin is that the 16 year expression is actually its standard release. The 12 is limited edition, as is the 8 that was recently released as part of an anniversary celebration. Not many distilleries have a 16 year old standard release.

I think it was the Lagavulin 16 that got JP hooked on peat and Islay's malt. It was also one of the first few bottles that I ever bought for myself (I think the first ever was...the Kavalan Single Malt, then the Taketsuru 12, then this one. The order gets a little hazy after that).




Colour: Dark gold, bordering on amber.

Nose: My first impression of this was a very meaty nose. It smelt like a barbecue, with lots of cooking and slightly charred meat upfront.  The barbecue makes way to unveil the usual Islay's flavours. Peat is very present without dominating everything else. There's a nice saltiness in the nose too. Then, something fruity. Oranges? Orange/Lemon zest? More citrusy than sweet. Some nuts as well, but I     don't think I can pin it down.

Palate: This is sooo good. Basically, the Lagavulin Distiller's Edition (previously tasted), minus the additional wine/sherry influence. Peaty, but more charcoal than ash. Rather smoky too. Then, meaty and savoury, with a dash of salt. Not really spicy. Just a little bit of...pepper? Chilli? Or saffron? This one brings out some citrus fruits if you let it hang around. A very well-rounded whisky.

Finish: Smoke, peat, a bit of vanilla from the wood, and smooth. A little bit of zest, some leftover savouriness. The finish lasts quite a bit, and dries the back of the throat a little. But on the whole, this is smooth.

Overall: Good stuff. Probably my favourite affordable Islay. This one is obtainable from Duty Free at about $83, and at some shops for about $120. Really good value for money.

One session, Two Parts (Redbreast 12, Glenmorangie Quarter Century, Lagavulin Distiller's Edition)

The Auld Alliance is turning into a hang-out of choice whenever DW, XW, EP and I meet. Tasty gatherings, these tasting gatherings. We had 5 glasses between the 4 of us, and everyone got to try a bit of everything. I'll first pen down my notes for these first three. Two Scotches, and one Irish (St. Patrick's Day??). Two Japanese ones to follow later over the weekend.

The crowd at the Auld Alliance is pretty young, mostly Asian, and most seem to know what they are ordering. Well, most. There was once JP and I were there, and some of our friends from one of the larger countries in the world did not really know what sort of place they have just stepped into. But any way. I guess the crowd at the Auld Alliance is a fair indicator of the clientele of whisky drinkers in Singapore. Not sure how many of these regular drinkers are also collectors, but most seem to have a sense of what they are looking for. Which is good for the industry. The absence of the older folks can probably be explained by the fact that the older folks usually can afford to buy their own bottles, and already have their own preferred bottlings and stuff. Whisky is becoming more popular among the younger crowd here in Singapore, for sure, though many are in thrall to Japanese whiskies and some of the bigger brands, like The Macallan.

So, the three for today...

Redbreast 12 (40% abv) - The first Irish whisky I've every had, I think. Remembered it being really smooth.

Nose - Some suggestions of nuts, a bit of grass, then a lot of vanilla, honey and caramel. A suggestion of wood. Very pleasant. Creamy, almost.

Palate - Yes, this is what I'll describe as creamy. No hint of alcohol. Very slight salt playing on the tongue. Otherwise, honey, vanilla, a bit of grass. Very ripe fruits here. A touch of spice. Just a light touch.

Finish - Very short finish. A reminder of some wood, a touch of spice, a bit more of the honey, then it goes down like cream. Irish cream made using Redbreast 12 would be a dream.

Overall - Very pleasant. Some criticize the Redbreast 12 for being too smooth, and having no structure to its taste. I like how everything in it blends together. It's a combination of flavours that fit together well, and which have sufficient similarities for the various flavours to slide around. Pretty good daily dram in my books. Better than the Redbreast 15, in my opinion. The 15 stung more, and loses some of the creaminess for more fruit. Maybe the 21 would be amazing. Something to try next time.

Glenmorangie Quarter Century (43% abv) - I'm a regular reader of whiskyfun.com and the good website gives this one a high score of 90, even naming it as the best Glenmorangie tasted. DW was looking for something that's similar in style to the Balvenie 30, which is big on honey and fruits. Off the top of my head, I thought that this might be a good comparison - similar, but somewhat different, being Highland and all that. We'll see how this goes.

Nose - Vanilla and oak. Seems like a mix of bourbon and sherry casks, but it feels like the bourbon is more dominant. Some suggestions of coconut, which, to me, seems like a sure sign that bourbon casks were involved in the process. Ripe red fruits, like ripe grapes and strawberries, and a lot of honey. However, the bourbon-like vanilla feel seems to mask everything else.

Palate - A smooth customer. Honey and vanilla are the main notes on the palate. A bit of oak underlying all that. It's not very rich, nor very distinct. Some sherry richness, but its fairly withdrawn. Master of Malt described this as creamy, but I think it's hardly anywhere as creamy as the Redbreast.

Finish - Some fruit lingers, but not distinct enough to tell what fruit it is. The sweetness of the fruit seems close to honey. A bit of oak. Fairly short finish.

Overall - Well. I wouldn't give this a 90. Smooth, pleasant, but seems a bit lacking in character for a 25 year old. Could it be due to the light distillate that Glenmorangie produces? Some have argued that the light distillate produced in Glenmorangie's tall stills makes the whisky a good canvas for cask manipulation, as can be seen from the proliferation of new fancy packaging  whiskies. The Quinta Ruban, Nectar d'Or and Lasanta were perhaps one of the first few, but they've been followed by an army of new NAS Glenmorangies. Some of those cask experiments work; I quite liked the Quinta Ruban, but maybe not enough to finish a whole litre of it (thanks PY for splitting the bottle!). This Quarter Century, I feel, suffers from being too light. The cask has certainly done its job, but perhaps the distillate was just too light, and the cask too gentlemanly. Decent, but perhaps too old and expensive for it to be just decent. I would probably score this at...80? 82? Same as the Redbreast 12, in any case.

Lagavulin Distiller's Edition (43% abv) - something that I've been wanting to try ever since I got into my head that I want a smoky sherry bomb/sherried peat monster. This one has drawn great reviews every year. Lagavulin is, according to some reviewers, the one distillery that no one has a bad word to say about. The 16 was great, in my opinion. The balance of smoke, peat and fruit was impeccable. What would a finishing in PX cask do to this great balance? Which way will it tip?

Nose - Mmmmmm. Lagavulin through and through. A meaty, savoury smoke and peat. A hint of leather in the background, and a sweet citrus fruit, like ripe cranberries/blueberries. Did that come from the Pedro Ximenez? Smells delicious.

Palate - Even though EP doesn't like peat, she found this very good. Which is testimony to how good Lagavulin is in general, and this Distiller's Edition in particular. A hint of wine on entry, then peat takes over for a bit. A touch rubber and leather, then some nuts. The meaty, savouriness makes a return, but it's balanced out by some vanilla. This is really, really good. Instead of throwing things off-balance, the PX cask has added a new dimension to the Lagavulin 16.

Finish - A bit of smoke, charred meat, and some pepper. There's a bit of eucalyptus and mint at the back of the throat, and it ends with a bit of dryness, like tea.

Overall - Excellent. I'm considering getting a bottle for myself, maybe when I finish the Oban 14 (which I still have about slightly over half a bottle left). This one is really good. Lagavulin will be a definite stopover if I ever go to Islay. This one is worth a 90 points in my book, though the Laphroaig 32 is probably, as things currently stand, a 95 and above kind of whisky.

DW said that he can imagine me becoming a full time whisky sipper after retiring, going round the globe visiting distilleries and trying all sorts of whiskies. Sounds like a good idea, but it seems a bit churlish to plan for retirement when I've not even gotten through my trainee phase. Whatever the future holds, this night at the Auld Alliance was fun, though the Glenmorangie was a bit of a small disappointment.

Hibiki 21 and an Ichiro's Malt in a couple of days' time! Goodnight!