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.
For those who love it would probably give it 5 stars ... the first point it hits your nose ... the strong palette ... the lingering after taste ... would probably leave the people who enjoy this taste wanting more ... unfortunately ... she is not a lady for me ... she smells like that ash smell when you go to the dentist and they drill your molars for cavity ... then it lingers within your mouth like a long been put out cigar ...
Extremely smokey, yet remarkable smooth. The peat on nose on this sucker will nearly knock you out, and is overpowering. The taste is mesmerizing, with a sherry sweetness lingering on the palate with the finish. New favorite.
I had a chance to sit down with a bottle last night. Truely a great Scotch. it got better and better with every mouthful.
The nose is nothing special (your usual islay malt smoke peaty smell) the palate is a vast improvement. However, the finish is without a doubt one of best I have ever tasted. Very few world whiskies will have you going to bed dreaming of waking up with the same taste still in your mouth as much as this will. It is a must try
I accept that it's not as good as it used to be but it is still without a doubt the best entry level whisky on the market and for the price it is definitely a bit of a steal, I've had more expensive whisky that were not as good as this but still, in my opinion, were still worth the price I paid. It's far from the finished product but if you get the chance you have to give it a try
