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.
Very Nice
Possibly the best value for money single malt: £44 (duty free) for a 16 y/o is commendable. I would buy again, certainly when compared to the NAS offerings from the other island distilleries. HOWEVER the colour is faked with caramel, it has been chill-filtered so the flavour is diminished. Shame. To my mind it isn't as good as it used to be, (2018) the Lag16 seems 'smoother' and has less Islay character. To the palate, this starts off very well: smoke, peat and rounded rich sherry character. The finish becomes harsher with some faults. I imagine this will please the shills who like to use the word 'go-to'.
A mans whisky. Imagine you've boiled an old work-horses harness for several days. My favourite for many years.
Been my go-to single malt for over 20 years. Just got gifted a new bottle from a neighbour who also appreciates the Islay. He is now my favourite neighbour!
My go to Scotch, the smokey flavor is outstanding, and the peat isn't overpowering. A wonderful whisky to sip, although it can start tasting a little too good so make sure to limit yourself!
