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.
I was stationed at Holy Loch, Scotland in the early 1980's when I was in the Navy. I now regret that I did not enjoy the many,many excellent whiskies that are produced in that beautiful land of my ancestors. But, I was just a stupid kid and only new about JWR and Black and the only thing the locals seem to know about was The Famous Grouse. YUCK! The difference between TFG and Lagavulin is like comparing lead and gold. My only regret is that it took me almost 30 years to discover that. Better late than never. Cheers.
Solid 4.5 star rating!
I just received a bottle along with a few others in an online purchase. I got it at a steal for $62. Normally this whisky sells for $90 plus tax at the local discount liquor super store. I'm here to tell you that this is one of the best buys I've ever made in my 57 years on Earth! What a superb whisky! Truly remarkable. I'm just an aspiring Scotch lover and don't have the sophistication of describing in detail the many sensations I had when tasting this fine whisky, but I know what I like and I REALLY like this! At this price I'm going to guy a case of this while it is still on sale! This is definitely in my TOP 5 along with Glenfarclas (all years) Talisker 10, Oban 14, and Tomatin 18. Cheers!
I dont understand why I dont like Lagavulin. My favorite whiskys are Ardbeg, Kilchoman, Laphroiag, Arran and Bowmore. Im a Islay guy. Ive tried Lagavulin 16 and 12, even the double matured sherry version. Do not like any of them. Full bodied ppl say...?? The smoke is there...and its the right Islay trademark smoke. But thats it really. Bhind the smoke I get some faint sweet flavour...but it taste kinda plastic/aspartame sweet.
When it comes to Eastern Wisdom this is as far east as I go. -Man
