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.
There will always be mixed reviews when it comes to Singles. This 16yr Old is one of my favorites. Peaty and Smoky on top of peat and smoke, might be too much for some people but if you like earthy scotches this is KING! More flavor then you can imagine and yet it remained smooth and creamy. A must try for everyone.
First taste I wasn't too taken, the next night I added a few drops of tap water and it was transformed into the best Whisky I have ever tasted Love it
While some you more "refined" connoisseurs may appreciate this gut rot, this particular distillation curled up my taste buds. A friend described it as "earthy" I replied, "NO, I think you mean Middle Earthy....you know like aged in an Orc's a...". Anyways, if you enjoy this, then more power to you. I'm pretty sure its also Sauron's favorite. I could've saved $80 and chewed on my hiking boot after trudging them through a boggy swamp. oi oi oi
This is the peatiest, smokiest dram I have ever had the displeasure of consuming. It's like drinking old shoes that have been in a fire.
My first taste of a peaty scotch was laphoaig quarter cask. At first it was odd. An acquired taste for sure. But it grew on me and the more it mellowed the better it became. So I bought a Highland Park 12 and at first I thought there was nothing special aside from the smoke, but it quickly settled down a bit after opening and It was a great experience. Since then I've had other peaty scotches like Laph. 18 & Talisker. I had read and seen many reviews on Lagavulin 16. Too many great reviews to ignore it. I ordered some in a pub on vacation. Tasted great from the first sip. Smoky, flavorful and balanced. I the tried it again at a friends house and I decided to buy my own. So I went to my local shop and finally brought it home. I open the bottle and take a sniff… and nothing. Thought that was odd. I pour a small dram into my glencairn glass and still a faint smell with not much smoke. Now I taste it and I'm stunned. Sweet, smooth…sweet again with a little bit of smoke. What happened to this? It tastes weak and mellowed out like almost a drink left out over night. What a waste of $90! I contacted lagavulin and I'm still waiting to hear from a quality control rep. I know what it's supposed to taste like but at its price I will not be willing to roll the dice and hope to get a "good batch" in the future. My first real disappointment in single malts. As I have tried many. What a shame.
