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.
Brilliant. Explodes on the taste buds. Suspect the bad reviews are from people who will never like heavy peaty scotch, so just they should stick to the lighter highland offerings.
i FORGOT TO PLACE A PERSONAL RATING IE IS ALL THE FIVES FOR ABOVE REVIEW.AND FOR THIS ONE :)) SMILES ALL THE WAY WITH LAGA 16.
Sorry for all the folk who can't like laga 16 for whatever reason, HOWEVER IT IS AN ICON OF ALL WHISKEY OUT THERE IS NON OTHER BETTER (FACT) in my opinion I won't go into the nose because if your a humane you will find your own nose explanatiion we are all different, but LAGAVULIN 16 IS THE WORLDS BEST SORRY THERE SIMPLY IS NO CONTEST... PS/ PLEASE KEEP IN RANGE THE PRICE OF US ORDINARY SMALL FOLK. i HAVE SEEN THE PRICE JUMP TO NEARLY OUT OF MY PERSONAL RANGE.
I'm hardly more than a toddler in the Whisky World, but what I have discovered is: I love Islays. They are NOT for everyone because of the strong complexity, heavy peat and smokiness. Some of my friends, who have always raved about various Laphroaig varieties, have come to realize the long-lasting finish of Lagavulin 16, it's greater variation of flavors with each sip, and the soothing smokiness. Like most fine drinks, Lagavulin 16 is best shared with good company, after dinner. Some like it with one ice cube, others 3 or 4 cubes, still others will say you need a drop of water; I prefer it neat. Just pour a little in the glass, breathe it in, and sip for an hour...or so.
It really is hard to beat this whiskey. This was the first single malt I tried and I thoroughly enjoyed it from the first taste. It's very reminiscent of a cold winter's night beside a peat fire. Very earthy and yet has a subtle sweetness. The wonderful smokiness lingers for a very long time.
