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.
tried this monster at a whisky bar recently, my wife had a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and I had a dram of Lagavulin. I felt like we probably had the same experience, very smoky nose, with strong bacon and BBQ notes coming through. Finish was the iconic seaweed/iodine Islay finish, I will now keep a bottle of this in my collection at all times.
I have read a few negative reviews on here and I respect that everyone has their own tastes and opinions. However, if you do not like this bottle you simply do not like Scotch. I wouldn't comment on rum or Taylor Swift's new album because I know I would dislike all versions. If you like Scotch, this is worth trying.
I have to say the first taste I was thinking someone handed me a glass of Jonny Walker Blue. More peaty and smokey though and a bit more of a after taste due to the smokey flavor. All in all definitely worth a try
I would hear reviews about "peaty" & "smoky" whiskies and would be scared yet excited to know if I would like this type of whisky or not. This bottle was my introduction and I am by far pleased with the taste. It held my hand to understand completely now what reviewers are talking about when they speak about "smoke" and how it is such a pleasant flavor when tasting other notes in whisky. I must admit that for the quality you are getting within this price range is absolutely fantastic. I think this bottle just became a signature staple on my shelf.
I Love that this is made by Diageo
