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.
I´ve drunk many a good single malt of any age and this chemical tasting dram was the worst. 45 euro down the drain...
One of my faves. This and Talisker are some of the finest examples of single malts I have tried. My taste leans towards the west, as Highlands and Speysides can be a bit too sweet for me. Lagavulin was the first Islay I tasted and remains one of the best for me. I think the negative reviews are from those who sip - you just can't do that with an Islay! Hold a mouthful on your tongue and savour it. Wait! The let it slide down your throat. Smooth, intensely warm and sensual. Massive flavour which opens up as you swallow it. I find if you drink it slowly you get less iodine and more warm smoky richness. If it tastes thin then you are sipping it or drinking too fast. No good drink tastes good sipped. Lagavuin 16 is not just a drink, it's an experience.
One of the first whiskies I ever tried, in the drawing room of an old castle, and it completely converted me. Incredible complexity and very peaty - gorgeous for a cold winter's night.
Hello peatness my old friend! There is much speculation and debate about who is the peat master in southern Islay. I confess that for me Ardbeg is most often like making out with a barbecue. One of Ardbeg's expressions is the only single malt I'd ever consider embellishing with added ice. Seriously. So, Lagavulin and Laphroig. Honestly, I go both ways. Having tasted a 42 (!) year old barrel of Lagavulin on site, I became a true believer though I can't give up my square foot of Laphroig peat bog. The 16 year old is an accessible standard bearer for Islay and peat. Definitely there, a wee bit in the nose, more on the palate, the memory in the finish. For me, it is how Lagavulin marries the peat with the sea. The nose has that great salinity that reminds you that you are not only on an island, but one that is off the coast of another island. The finish is all peat and seaweed for me. I'd recommend picking up a bottle, making the drive and walk to the American Memorial at the Mull of Oa, looking for the ubiquitous rain clouds between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and raising one to those who have died at sea. This dram is a worthy honour to those souls.
I'm really stunned at how much I dislike this whisky. I'm not normally a peat fan and prefer speyside but I do appreciate the likes of laphroaig 10 and ardbeg uigeadail. For me this doesn't taste or smell of peat smoke, it tastes of cigarette ash and an unpleasant medicinal flavour.
