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.

Mmm, the smell and taste take me to the Atlantic Ocean. Home. Salt and peat smoke on the nose. Big, rich mouthful. Spicy and peaty with a sherry influence. Vanilla and figs. Peat and smoke lasts for several minutes. This commands respect.
Recent batches of Lagavulin 16 lack the sherry cask influence that was present even just a few years ago. It's still decent - just different, and less complex than it used to be without the sherry cask involvement.
Прекрасный виски, один из САМЫХ любимых!!! Я вижу, предыдущий комментатор жалуется на взлёт цен на Lagavulin в США. Я не знаю сколько стоит он в Америке, но в Украине Lagavulin 16 стоит 1200 грн. - зарплата 2000 - 3000 грн. (это не описка) Так что братья американцы - не печальтесь, не только вам тяжело!
Someone asked my recently; "what's your favourite whisky?", It's an impossible question, but if I had to answer, all things considered, it would be this, Lagavulin 16.
Warning: -any positive review you may have seen about LV 16 is an absolute understatement. When Brian Cox says this one is his favorite, now I know why. I give it a 10 out of 10. It is hard to imagine a single malt getting any better.Delicious.!!!! Just the right balance of smoke(peat) , sweetness, complexity, zero burn. Magnificent. Even with recent price run ups in the US, it is worth it.