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.
To the 1-star man on 28th February 2018...when you hated your bottle and threw it out, did you by chance just leave in the bottle and leave the bottle in a clean bag or bin somewhere, and would that bottle still be in your possession? If so, I have a warm home for the "burnt forest fire" you disliked so much: my waiting maw. My catch-phrase used to be, "I don't drink scotch, but when I do, it has heather honey, saffron and spices in it." Then I tried Laphroaig, and I liked it very much. Then I got stuck out of town with nothing to do but watch Netflix, and picked Parks and Rec. Then I tried Lagavulin. Now, when I talk about Lagavulin, I only use a Nick Offerman accent. It's that good. I have Ardbeg 10, and was just gifted another bottle, but I'm afraid it will be exchanged for my first owned bottle of 16. Cheers to those who enjoy the king of scotch!
Just stop reading this a pour yourself a generous dram. Keep it in your mouth for 20 seconds and fly away.
I've had a bottle of 16 year Lagavulin, for 4 years now, and it's never been opened,the last time I drank it and I had a few, was in 1997 and the memory of it has stayed with me for these past 21 years,... I will think about opening it soon,
I do believe chill filtering takes the soul out of the liquid. Glenlivet and Glenfiddich chill filter the hell out of their bland whisky and there's nothing there. This however I don't know what it is but nothing compares to it or comes close the balance of peat sherry fruit and grain has a finesse I have never experienced in any other whisky and as I make my way through my 3rd bottle of this in the past few months I have to say I haven't had anything better in a couple hundred I've tried.
My partner's go-to whisky, and her favourite Islay malt.
