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.
One of the most complex whiskys you'll find. Tasting notes here are spot on. Anyone here that finds it at all disagreeable or sub-par can send their partially used bottle directly to me free of charge.
I wish I took the time to read the reviews before I dropped $90 on a bottle. The first thing I noticed was it smelled very strongly of plastic and formaldehyde and to no surprise that's exactly how it tasted. I let it air in the glass for a while and still tastes as bad as the first sip. As it sat next to me my girl complains that it stunk terribly of cigarettes every time she walked past. I truly wonder if it's my pallet that doesn't agree with it as another has comment or if it's a bad batch or bottle. My guess is it's my pallet because although my girl and I both hated the smell we differed greatly as to what that it's smelt like. I will say although it is the worst scotch I've ever tasted it was one of the smoothest.
Like a lot of people here I wanted to believe I was going to taste a wonderful rich robust Dram. Unfortunately this is not what I got. There is smoke, there is peat, but there is no thickness or robustness in it at all. Even the smoke and peat tastes quickly disappear from the mouth and you are left only with iodine. I am afraid to say I will also have a hard time drinking this Whisky, and I guess I will have to, because I would never offer it to a friend. Overall you have the impression that its not a well balanced Dram.
This was one amazing experience. Early on .. if you rush the nose or the taste it hits a little too hard with the upfront smoke and you lose some of the spice and sweet layers that accompany it. Waiting a bit after your pour, and then enjoying the nose, waiting a bit more then taking a sip, really makes a difference. Overall.. what a scotch.. encompasses so many flavors with so many incredible "essences" of sherry, smoke, vanilla, and peat. Bravo.
Nose- Intense burnt wood, campfire, touch of oak in there somewhere, and spice. Mostly smoke. Palate - Oily viscous and peaty smoke. First chew - spice - faint cinnamon and burnt sugar, mostly oak wood, dry, dry wood and smoke. Finish - Spice, burnt vanilla and burnt brown sugar, lastly campfire. This is one of the smokiest Scotches I have ever sampled. I like it a lot but I dont pick up on the Lapsang Souchong tea. I love toasted teas. I don't get that here. To me its a tad 2-demensional. Scotch is very subjective to the drinker. This one doesn't call to me. I prefer the Laphroiag 10 year old. I still give it a 4. Its a great dram. This whisky will destroy your tastebuds. Drink this at the end of your night. You will taste campfire for at least 4 hours afterwards.
