Back in the 1880s, Alfred Barnard, author of The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, enjoyed an eight-year-old Lagavulin he described as "exceptionally fine". As part of their 200th anniversary celebrations, the distillery therefore decided to recreate said eight-year-old! It's bottled at an exciting 48% ABV and was matured in refill European and American oak casks.
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
Salted popcorn, honey-roasted nuts, tarry ropes and light hints of freshly-chopped cedar. A touch of burnt sugar sweetness lingers.
Smokey peat appears first on the palate, followed by coriander seed, barley sugar, cumin powder, smoked kipper and marzipan.
Layers of apple crumble, toasted almond and ash. Another kick of cooking spices right at the end.
As well as adding gifts to lucky MoM orders, #WhiskySanta is granting wishes on social media every day! Hit the button above and let them know what you'd like. It could be yours!
Just got mine and love the taste.
I love lagavulin, believe me. The 12, the 16 and the distillers edition are some of my favorite whiskies. Port Ellen is legendary and Lagavulin is the only distillery that uses the Port Ellen maltings... so the closest you can get to Port Ellen without spending thousands. So I can see why one would want to buy this bottle out of curiosity... and that is what I think they were thinking when releasing this. It is very poor. If it didn't have the Lagavulin label I would think this should be a $40 - $50 young offering from some lesser Islay distillery. It just does not belong to the Lagavulin line. Lost a lot of respect for them with this move. DONT waste your money out of curiosity with this one.
The bottle i got has an awful aftertaste! Took my time with it but not even a little time to breathe could remove that after taste. Took the liberty of mailing the destilery, whom apparently doesn't give a rats ass about their customers, cause after 3 weeks there's still no reply! The nose is ok and that's it, I love the nose and the taste of the 16yo though.
I just ordered a case. cause once it's gone I feel it will be gone. It will become one of those classic drams we will miss and end up paying an arm and a leg years from now for.
My go to has always been the Lagavulin 16. This 8 year old is like a teenager ready to mature, however it is holding its own. I experience the most intense flavours from savouring a wee sip against my pallet, then release, inhale and swallow. At this point I have a warm euphoric feeling overcome my body and I must say a day without Lagavulin, is like a day without sunshine.
