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 tasty will buy again whoever makes this you have brought me back to the land of scotch
To the person who said women can't appreciate a good whisky, I'm a woman and this is my favourite. It's mellow, honey tasting, but not to sweet with some and vanilla. Words don't do this justice. It's nectar.
I've been sipping on this whisky for a few hours now, trying out the flavours and letting it grow on me. When you put your nose to the glass, you get a smokiness that is truly beautiful. It's Lapsang Souchong, dark wood, strong, with the aromas of a warm fire or a burning cigar. The Lagavulin 16 is an instant favourite, and it is a whisky that will always be on my shelf. However, I do advise anyone who is new to single-malt whiskies to try something else, perhaps a speyside whisky before moving on to the islas, because the rich flavours of the Lagavulin will be lost on you. It's a whisky to be savoured and taken in little sips. A truly fantastic buy, and the beginning of a new love affair.
My wife just bought me a bottle of this for Father's day and I was suitably impressed. Wonderful nose, great and clean finish. I am a big fan of peated scotch and smoky flavours. Its going to be difficult to not polish off this bottle quickly.
Hi Guys, Need your help. I know nothing about whiskeys, but reading these reviews I think this may be a good 30th birthday present for my fiance? opinions please xx
