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.
Colour: My Glencairn nosing glass showed an almost greenish hue to the dark amber gold. Nose: Massive peat grips you by the face then slaps you. The other reviews that describe the smell of Band Aids are spot-on. Lapsang Souchon tea. So much depth and intensity of aroma. Incredible on the olfactory senses but balanced by a sweet creamy smoothness and slightly sherried nose. Body: Full bodied and oily. Palate: Peat overdose, smoke, iodine, sea salt, a hint of burnt fruit. Subtle sweetness hidden behind a veil of more peat and smoke. If you can handle its undiluted intensity you'll find a whiskey like few others. The peat and smoke isn't of the same ashtray like intensity of other peated single malts and the sherry aspect helps balance it and gives it a smoothness unlike any other single malt I've tasted. Incredible. Finish: The longest but most pleasing finish. Should you be foolish enough to over-indulge you'll still be tasting it the morning after, hopefully! The first Islay I tried. I feel it's best described as creamy, oily, liquid smoke. Not cheap by any means but utterly sublime. I once thought it was only bettered by Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Having returned to it I feel it's more subtle, sherried quality and smoothness over QC give it the top spot. Incredible stuff and for me the greatest whisky I've had so far on this incredible journey.
I'll start by saying that I'm a Glenlivet man. My Lagavulin 16 experience was very bad. My first thought was "paint thinner"- simply impossible to drink. I've only had the problem once before with a sample bottle of Islay whisky. I've read the reviews, and your descriptions of "smokey" and "woody" are accurate. I tried another sip without ice and it went down, but it's going to take some time before I acquire a taste for it.
Being a scotch lover, Lagavulin is great. So is all scotch at this level of quality. I enjoy variety, even 6 year old Famous Grouse. However, I do drink Lagavulin more often than others.
But after a few days of sampling it my opinion has changed. I hit it at a 1/2 shot per night, even at $100 a bottle its practically a bargain. A lot of people mention the woody notes but theres more to it. The kick has its own complexities that carry an evolving profile as it settles on the pallet. I love it. I expect the bottle to continue to evolve as I drink it over time, a rare pleasure.
Some morons actually drinks this with ice. Correct temperature is everything with a single malt, a bit too high or low and it changes character. Still my favorite btw, a winter whisky.
