Lagavulin 16 Year Old is truly a benchmark Islay whisky. It’s loved for its deep, earthy, and maritime character with rich notes of dried fruit, vanilla, and smokiness that comes from Islay peat but is more akin to Lapsang Souchong tea in profile.
Before Lagavulin 16, the distillery did have a 12-year-old single malt. But when Diageo launched the Classic Malt series in the 1980s, Lagavulin 16 Year Old was introduced and became the distillery's flagship bottling. It received a boost in popularity after featuring in Parks and Recreation as a favourite drink of Nick Offerman’s character Ron Swanson. Offerman has since collaborated with the distillery on several occasions.
If you're looking for a food pairing for this beauty, try intensely flavoured salty blue cheeses, which complement the intense, peat-rich, sweet and salty character of this Lagavulin wonderfully.
More like Lapsang Souchong tea than Lapsang Souchong! One of the smokiest noses from Islay. It's big, very, very concentrated, and redolent of iodine, sweet spices, good, mature Sherry and creamy vanilla. Stunning.
Very thick and rich. A massive mouthful of malt and Sherry with good fruity sweetness, but also a wonderful sweetness. Big, powerful peat and oak.
Long, spicy finish, figs, dates, peat smoke, vanilla.
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A joy !!
This stuff is pretty bloody amazing. I treated myself to a bottle for Christmas as I've never had it before but always heard good things. I'm a huge fan of Laphroaig, Port Charlotte and Talisker. £50 from Amazon and got to say it's worth every penny. It's like sitting back in a leather armchair, eating cinder toffee next to a log fire while your uncle smokes a pipe, but all in a glass! The colour is dark - bronze, new honey, or deep amber. The nose is smoky but the most complex Islay I've ever smelled. There's a gentle iodine tang, like burnt seaweed, or a camp fire on the beach at night. Unlike Talisker, there's no alcohol burn on the nostrils. I just nosed it for 5 minutes before the first sip. And what a first sip! It's gently warming like Highland Park or Old Pulteney. Then a sudden cascade of different flavours mingled together. Definitely some polished oak with a crackle of paprika or sweet chilli, followed by a sudden dryness like syruped raisins. Pure heaven. The finish is warm, dry, and gets longer with each sip. It's now 5 minutes later and I can still taste it. Absolutely gorgeous. Hats off, beautiful dram!
IMO You can get no better peated whiskey. Absolute ballance. Absolute greatness.
Very much to my taste! Smooth and with the peaty taste that I really like. Would recommend it to anyone.
Always a pleasure to drink with a great hit of smoke. MZB
