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.
Where has the smoke gone? Its not the dream it was two years ago let alone ten. Shame on you diageo
I was lucky enough to get about a triple measure for just a few euros in Italy today, I don't think the barmaid knew what she was pouring! Full of flavour with plenty of smokiness, it seemed perfect in the warm weather but I can imagine this being great on a cold night in. I would highly recommend a bottle of this sophisticated scotch and will definitely buy one myself.
This won't just put hairs on your chest it'll make your god damn balls drop. Superb Islay.
Sophisticated flavor. My favorite whiskey
Starts well, decent smoke without the TCP of younger/ cruder Islay's, middle is full and fruity (read any of the reviews below) - and the finish goes on for some time in the same fashion. Many folk will like this whisky for it's simple macho smoke and look for nothing more, especially at this price. Reason for only 6/10 is that overall it REALLY lacks complexity or interest - despite the smoke its a bland commercial product delivering little development or evolution in the glass. I look for more in a whisky especially at 16 y/o
