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Lagavulin Distillery
Port Ellen, Islay
Argyll PA42 7DZ
+44 1496 302 730

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Owner: United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo)

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Creation date 1816

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photos

	Lagavulin
			Sample
O.B.	16 years	18
	Distilled in 1995, bottled for the Friends of Classic Malts	18
	Special Release, 12 years	19
	12 years (2007)
	Distillers edition 1981	18
	Distillers Edition 1990	18
	21 years (2007)		18
Adelphi	Adelphi Breath of Islay	18
The Ultimate Whisky Company	Mystery Islay		18
The Whisky Exchange	Elements of Islay, Lg1

 

Lagavulin 16 years
Age	16 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottling	Official
Price/litre

 

 Lagavulin is one of the great classics from Islay (not only because it is part of the UDV series “Classic malts”). All the spirit of Islay, (the sea, the peat and the smoke), remarkably balanced is concentrated in it. I do not think it is the best malt from Islay but this bottle is essential. Especially for smoked whisky lovers.

A kind of hay smell developing on floral hints is followed by a very nice and complex taste, recalling sea and peat at the time. A rather long and dry finish is marked by smoke. It remains a great classic.

A clear nose with interesting mixes of peat and leather withs some vegetal smells, wet hay and malt. The palate is nicely peaty and smokey with a maritime aftertaste. A nice finish, somewhere between the smoothness of malt and the salt of the sea, with some bitter hints (wood)

Rather farmy nose with hints of cereals behind humid undergrowth smells. A touch of smoke. Nice peat.
In the palate, first a strong peaty impression and quite a limited tastes palette, with hints of milk chocolate and nuts. Smoke and peat mix nicely with pleasant salted notes. This is not a cask strength... and for those who are used to stronger percentages, this one feels a bit watery....
A lingering warm finish, developing in the mocha register.

 Comment by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 9/12 2007
Appearance: Burnished copper
Nose: Deep and well balanced aromas. There are some peaty and feinty aromas, not so much smoke but more like earthy, peaty water and scorched plastic. Underneath that lies some fragrant overtones, lavender perhaps, and also a fine iron tone. The diluted dram reveals some hot sand, shoe polish, linseed oil and baby sick.
Body: Medium
Palate: Big, round and full flavored. Almost instantly comes an explosion of peaty smoke and some sort of malty richness. The finish is outstandingly long and powerful. It's sort of vegetative in a way and with a hint of nuttiness in the back of the tongue. I'm guessing this is the 35ppm variation because the smoke was not at all overwhelming, It's a sad thing they have reduced it to ! 43% as well, I would have loved this to be 46 or 48%, it just looses a bit of momentum as it is. Still a great dram.
92/100

Comment by Johannes Sauer

Colour: Full amber, decent reddish coppery glints.
Nose: To use this worn out word again: A classic nose. A nearly perfect combination of soft peat and clearly defined influence of a good sherry cask. The associations are very pleasureful and fit best into the typical Islay picture: Leather armchairs, sea salt, Latakia pipe tobacco, also cold cigar ash, burnt rubber and clean peat smoke, mellowed by dried fruits (dates and apricots) and brown sugar.
Taste: Very full and warming, boring again to say it’s a “classic” mouthfeel by one of most outstanding “classic malts”. Perfectly balanced again and wonderfully confirmating the expectations of the nose: Tobacco, leather and so on, but now more accents on dried fruits, indian spices, forest honey and black pepper.
Finish: Long and spicy, a heavy emphasis on the peppery notes.
Conc.: This is a truly great dram made by distillery standing for what I do not appreciate very much, I see it as the flagship of Diageo’s movement which makes the whisky world poorer by not a cask (to my knowledge) being distributed by the independents and the expressions being something limited. But hey, if this is a great whisky what’s the matter? I have to acknowledge without envy, this is one of the most beautiful Islay whisky in my book.
Tasting date: November/12th/2009

 

 

Lagavulin 1981 Distillers Edition
Age	20 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottling	Official
Cask	Sherry Pedro Jimenez
Characteristic	Double maturation
Price/litre

 

 A classical Lagavulin, with all its characteristics of smoke and peat, very well balanced with a hint of sherry is the best description for this exceptional malt. A long and warming finish and an impression of happiness will stay associated to this excellent bottling, which should be present in any good whisky collection.

At the second tasting, the sherry was dominating, letting the peat and smoke in the background. In the palate, a kind of acidity, mixed with peat and smoke was sharing the attention with the sherry, to finish on some more smoky hints.

A perfect balance between sherry, peat and smoke. All this elements complement each other very well. Some discrete hints of sweet citrus fruits (orange rather than tangerine) complete the nose impression. In the palate, an impression of great sweetness, with a clear but still discrete presence of smoke. The finish begins with some citrus fruit touches, and develops on smoke ant peat, with some rather pleasant woody fragrances on the end.

The nose recalls gingerbread. A clear and pleasant nose detecting also fruity hints and a touch of smoke. A nice impression in the palate, somewhere between bitterness and acidity. Discrete hints of smoke, nice complexity. A bit of nuts, a bit of malt and a bit of beer yeast. The finish is long and pleasant, mainly marked by slightly bitter notes, smoke and just a bit of peat.

 

 

Lagavulin 12 years Special release
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	57,8%
Bottling	Official
Characteristic	Cask Strength
Price/litre

 

 

For the lover of smoky and peaty whisky, Lagavulin is the ultimate must. The well known 16 years old version is unanimously appreciated. The distillery usually does not market anything else, with the exception of the distiller’s edition. What can I tell about the excellent surprise to find this cask strength 12 years old? It is a marvelous bottle, with all ingredients of the brand, even better. This is definitively one of the best Islay whiskies. A very long finish crowns the well balanced impression in the mouth. Hints of iodine and smoke. But all of this was already clear with the first nosing. An absolute must.

The first nose impression is a great mix of sea, peat and smoke. The pleasure goes on in the mouth, with lots of remarkable and complex tastes, however very nice balanced. The finish is long and spicy, and it crowns the wonderful impression left by the nose and the palate. Obviously a very great malt.

A very great complexity, mixing freshness and peat, smoke and spices characterizes a powerful nose. The palate recognizes the same complexity, with smoke, malt and some slightly acid touches, salt and a great warmth. A long and spicy finish prolongs the happiness.
A marvellous bottle.

From a distance,  strong hints of wood fire tell the nose this is a whisky which has got character. Smoke is the first feeling. Peat smoke on a beach. Sea air is present too. Salt and iodine behind a veil of smoke. In the palate, a very nice impression of peat, first rather dry peat, developing to smoother peat after a while, after appearance of citrus hints, getting saltier with the seconds. Strong alcohol feeling, but not hindering. Very nice presence in the mouth. The finish is long and warm, perfectly in line with the mouth with memories of peat mixed with citrus fruit, and the pleasant warmth of this whisky give an idea of what happiness could be.

 

Lagavulin 1990 Distillers Edition
Age	16 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottling	Official
Cask	Sherry Pedro Jimenez
Characteristic	Double maturation
Price/litre

Une belle tourbe caractérise le nez dès le premier contact. Une odeur envoûtante de tourbe très agréable mais qui laisse peu de place à d'autres influences... En bouche, la même impression de tourbe cependant légèrement plus complexe que le nez, mais ici encore loin des explosions de goûts qu'on serait en droit d'attendre. La finale est relativement courte, avec d'intéressants développements sur des notes tournant toujours autour du thème de la tourbe, avec cependant des relents d'épices et des soupçons de réglisse assez intéressants. Une bien belle bouteille, même si on aurait up en attendre un peu plus.

Comment by Henrik Johansson

1991 Distillers Edition (1991-2007)

Date of tasting: 27/7 2008
Apperance: Dark, almost tawny. Chestnut perhaps.
Nose: A very powerful and rich aroma. Loads of pungent and wet smoke, tar and old, soaked wood. There are also some dried fruits in the background, figs, raisins and maybe even some stewed apples. Steamed vegetables also came to mind. With water added the smoke seems to evaporate a little at first and reveal more estery notes, but the smoke comes back and blends in to create an impression of a flame treated basket of dried oranges.
Body: Quite heavy and oily.
Palate: Very sweet and mouthwarming overall. Less smoke then expected carried over at first. Then after a moment some pungent smoke and oily flavours rolls in. The finish is very long and develops on a winey, peaty and fe! inty background.
94/100

 

Lagavulin 1995 For friends of Classic Malts
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	48%
Bottling	Official
Price/litre

Very nice oily peat, smoke, sea spray, undergrowth and wet hay. This is definitely a nose for peat lovers. Nice complexity, just like great Islay malts ought ot be.
In the palate, peat is dominant as well, harmoniously mixed with nice slightly woody notes, dome fruit (plum jam), some sherry.
The finish is rather long with peat and barbecue ash as main characteristics.

Lagavulin Breath of Islay
Age	13 years
Alcohol percentage	58.1%
Bottling	Adelphi
Characteristic	Cask Strength
Price/litre

The nose is clearly dominated by peat and the feeling that the sea is not far away. Some floral and peppery notes, just to make the whole more complex. The mouth is rather oily, nicely marked by peat, moka notes and coffee and milk. A nice finish, rather short but very nicely marked by the memory of moka behind a nice slice of peat.

Lagavulin Lg 1
Age	no age statment
Alcohol percentage	56,8%
Bottler	The Whisky Exchange
Characteristic	Cask Strength
Price/litre

Lagavulin 12 ans (2007)
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	56.4%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

Lagavulin Mystery Islay The Ultimate Single Malt selection
Age	6 years
Alcohol percentage	46%
Bottler	Van Wees
Price/litre

A nice oily peat, touches of barbecue roasted meat, smoke and cold ash characterise the nose. Some nice additional sea spray hints coming above the wood fire scents made it very attractive for Islay whisky lovers.
In the palate, it behaves correctly too, with still that dominating peat and that heady smoke.
The finish is pleasantly lingering, still on peaty and smoky notes.
A classical Lagavulin...

Lagavulin Distillers edition 2007
Age	16 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

Lagavulin 21 years (2007)
Age	21 years
Alcohol percentage	56.4%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The nose is very pleasantly divided between leather notes and very fine peat. Smoke too. Some meaty impression and nice farmy hints. This nose announces a great malt. Behind the smoke and peat, a kind of freshness appears. The nose impression increases constantly. In the palate, a real firework of close to each other tastes. Peat leather and smoke. Rather complex and very pleasant even if it develops constantly on the same taste palette. The finish is lingering but gets very dry rather soon. This makes forget about all the great pleasure of the nose and mouth. The finish is extremely deceiving. A pity...

Isle of Islay

The Isle of Islay on the West coast, is by far the most appreciated producing area amongst the single malt lovers. Even if its surface is rather small, there are no less than 8 active distilleries, including a new one.

Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information about the Isle of Islay area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow