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 love this bottle. Two years in a row I found separate bottles fairly consistent and delicious. This one is frighteningly easy to drink for something as complex as it is. A classic in its own right at this point.
If you are trying to experience all the single malts as I have, your journey will - at some point - bring you to Lagavulin. When your journey ends, you will return to Lagavulin. Probably not the whisky most suitable for neophytes, it is a rich and full experience with an excellent balance of peat and character. Having sampled them all, Lagavulin is - expressed in the simplest terms - the best.
Like a whisky should taste and don't ever change it!!
I had a feeling that it would be impressive due to its price, but I was impressed anyway after I took my first sip. Felt like a luxury banquet of dragon meat BBQ with angel tear vodka; holy and smoky. Definitely buy more
A lovely, lovely dram, the smoothest of the three south Islay peat monsters but for the price I prefer the Laphroaig 10 cask strength. Batch 3 was something special.
