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.
Find the peat too much for my liking when first opened. Did something crazy by matching it with red chillies... and the "enlightenment" moment happens! Still rich and smoky on palate, in fact with added spiciness, but the finishing is superb - with hint of herbs amidst the oaky sweetness. And I proceed to finish half a bottle, that says it all.
Hello. I'm the Sugarbear. I've reviewed many whiskies on this website( mainly Scotch since it's the superior) and I am starting to run out of things to try. I am lucky enough to get this for $55 a bottle here in California even though it is typically between $75 and $100 at most stores. It is always in my collection and I'm finishing off my tenth bottle right now with number eleven on standby. This might be the perfect age for an Islay whisky if it were younger it would be peatier but not as smooth n oaky ( 8 year totally awesome) and if it were older it wouldn't be Peaty enough honestly. It's consistently amazing I truly love this whisky and I have to have it on hand at all times. To whoever poured this down the drain if you bought it you can do what you want with it ( but i hate you) and to those who gave it a low rating you probably don't enjoy bold/ complex flavors which is fine but you are boring. To whoever said that this is so good it brings tears to their eyes I completely agree with and to you I say ,Cheers! Slainte! The Sugarbear
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It's good not great. Nice nose, mouth feel is thin and finish is med/short.
Best Single Malt I've ever had! Add 2 fingers of Italian Sparkling Water and let sit for 5 mins. Very, very good!
