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The Diageo Special Releases welcomed back the Lagavulin 12 for 2018. This is the 18th incarnation of the Islay single malt, which only missed the very first edition in 2002. The limited release was matured in refill American Oak hogsheads and bottled at 57.8% ABV.
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
A classic Lagavulin – smouldering barbeque smoke, oodles of citrus peels, raspberry and peach. It's quite green, with a freshly cut grass vibe in there too. Then there's a wet wood aroma to keep it interesting.
Bonfire embers give way to hay, orange peel, toffee apples and salted caramel. Burned marshmallows, dark chocolate and cigar smoke, too.
Drying with bitter orange and wood smoke.
A deliciously smoky yet multi-dimensional whisky. We like. A lot.
Undrinkable. Tastes like bad moonshine with a hint of peet. I’m trying to return it to the crook who sold it to me.
Recently tried the 2018 release in my local whisky bar. With regret it’s not as good as the 2015 or 2017 releases and is £20 more expensive. Two stars seems fair in my view. When you look at other peated cask strength whisky offering around, this is poor value. I would recommend looking elsewhere. For example, the ledaig 13 Amontillado is sublime @ £70 and the Glen Scotia Ruby Port @ £50 represents truely epic quality/value ratio. However, in Lagavulins defence, the Lagavulin 8 restores my faith in them. What a whisky. Its like a junior Lagavulin 12 and at £45-£50 represents a fantastic alternative to the hideously overpriced Lagavulin 12 2018.
To all those moaning about the price below, it is partly due to the rarity - it's a limited release, and I don;t mind paying a bit more for that reason. It's still at the cheaper end of Diego's Special Releases, and consistently outstanding. OK, so you can get the 2017 for less and I too remember paying £50 for the 12...10 years ago! Whisky, like everything else, gets more expensive. Sure, if the price puts you off go buy two 8 or 16 year olds...they're both great. So what prompted me to go for this 2018 bottling? Simply, I was given a sample as a Christmas present by Lagavulin's inimitable and generous ambassador. I tried it last night, and immediately it jumped out as a different beast to other years, with an extra sweetness and richness that gives it some more complexity IMO, beyond the usual dry, maritime flavours I associate with the 12, but still retaining them. I thought" That's my Xmas malt!"
Any idiotic comment below that is not specifically about the 2018 release should be deleted and the reviewers banned from buying from this site to teach them a lesson. I could care less that you do not like the price. That is your problem not mine, go somewhere else and polute with your idiotic diatribe.
I also think that, though expensive, Lagavulin 12 is absolutely worth it. I agree completely with the editor's review and can't add to it. We had a group drinking it last night and everybody agreed it is quite special.