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.
Like another said, let it sit in your mouth for a while and swallow slowly. This is an incredible whisky. Just delicious.
Best "Hillbilly" I ever had ( my own recipe 2 parts Lagavulin 16 and 1 part Drambuie on the rocks)
The embodiment of Islay expectation... You had better like it smokey. Great mouth coating flavour. Quite pungent to begin with, but small sips & drunk slowly make this a satisfying and moreish whisky.
I'm enjoying Lagavulin 16 for the first time right now, and this was a good call. It won't be the last time.
Smoke, smoke and smoke....as I'm learning my way through Scotch world, I'm learning... Nose is absolute smoke, very reminiscent of southern barbecue. On the pallet is a roundhouse of tastes...finished with a sting of alcohol and more smoke. This whiskey feels like it is meant for unapologetic carnivores: big and in your face; not for "gentle folk". I've never diluted a whiskey in my life, and I won't start with this one. If I were to settle in with a bottle for a long night, I'd probably want a salty snack of some sort to nibble as I sipped to keep everything balanced.
