Foreign Whisky of the Month - 12/2013: Lagavulin

[WhiskyRI]

Pulled the trigger on a 2012 DE - I'm a sucker for peat and Pedro Ximenez sherry. It scratches two itches of mine at once - peat and sherry. Haven't opened it yet - thinking about getting another one to open and saving one to taste side-by-side with the 2013 DE. Because Lag never seems to go on sale around these parts I find myself saving it for more special nights and instead making do with Caol Ila which I routinely find on sale for $40, while Lag seems to start at $76 for the regular 16 and go for $90+ for the DE. With the holidays coming up I think I'll have some time to really relax with a drams. Maybe I can convince my daughter that Santa likes a little whisky with his cookies....

[Virus_Of_Life]

Man, I bet that '69 Oban would be wonderful. I've only had the regular release and an 18 year at a whiskey extravaganza, but I don't remember any details about the 18 year. I spoke to one of the guys at K&L and he told me there was nothing in current production similar to Oban 14 until you get to the much older expressions. That made me very sad, I love that soft peat base, it just brings the whole dram together.

[Dolph Lundgren]

I fall in line with drinking too much CS stuff and thinking the 16 is thin. A 16 at CS would be heavenly. Here's hoping...

I opened a 2010 CS 12yr last night. Its a little dryer than the 2012 CS. When I first opened the bottle the peat was heavy with char and tar, but mellowed quite a bit by the second glass and the sweetness and brine really came out. The finish is great. The 12s are harsher than the 16s, but I'd still take them over the 16. I also don't mind a numb tongue in the morning.

[MtnDew]

If we all get together for a tasting again it'll most likely be open and available.

Ooooh, that would be awesome. In the meantime I'm putting together a decent little collection myself to share but nothing at that level.

[weller_tex]

I can't afford Lagavulin these days..but had a mini-bottle of the 16 given to me as a gift while working in Sweden last year. It was very good, but seemed a bit watery from what I had remembered. Also not as smoky..more of kind a tea quality. Of the more heavily peated single malts I think it is fourth behind Talisker, Laphroaig, and Ardbeg.

[MtnDew]

I don't think I would normally buy them either, but for $55 at Costco in Cali I can make the purchase. Too bad they are normally so much more.

[MacinJosh]

I don't think I would normally buy them either, but for $55 at Costco in Cali I can make the purchase. Too bad they are normally so much more.

Bunker up at that price!!! Awesome!

[black mamba]

The most recent (last couple years) bottlings have not been as good as previous ones to my palate, but still quite good. Having just finished my last bottle, and with the price rising and the taste falling, I'll be buying Caol Ila 12 for the near future.

[AaronWF]

I finally finished my one and only bottle of Lag 16 I've bought. This was a dud for me. I really enjoyed the 12yo CS I had, but the 16 came off as very limp. The peat is too buried - never asserted itself enough for me. The mouthfeel is unsatisfying, which may have to do with the 43% abv. The notes from the sherry barrels were faded and weak. Add to this the knowledge that the color is not natural, as well as the skyrocketed pricing structure Diageo pulls with their products, and I am left with a bad taste in my mouth over Lagavulin in general. I was impressed with the nobility I got from the CS 12yo, but I found none of that in the 16, and at $100+, the CS 12yo is an easy pass for me going forward.

[ChainWhip]

OB Lagavulin Jazz 1995 / 2013 - 51.9%

(Freshly opened bottle)

N: Smoke, peat, faint generic fruit (gets stronger after more than 10 minutes), iodine, dried straw bales, seaweed lavers

P: Flinty smokiness, tobacco, peat, alternates between sweet & salty (occasionally at the same time), bacon bits, small amount of sherry/dried fruit

F: Slight bitterness but mostly an extension of the palate with more sweetness as the brine subsides - long

Edited January 31, 2014 by ChainWhip

[Max Power]

OB Lagavulin Jazz 1995 / 2013 - 51.9%

(Freshly opened bottle)

N: Smoke, peat, faint generic fruit (gets stronger after more than 10 minutes), iodine, dried straw bales, seaweed lavers

P: Flinty smokiness, tobacco, peat, alternates between sweet & salty (occasionally at the same time), bacon bits, small amount of sherry/dried fruit

F: Slight bitterness but mostly an extension of the palate with more sweetness as the brine subsides - long

I tried to read everything, but sort of got stuck on BACON!!!!!

[Virus_Of_Life]

OB Lagavulin Jazz 1995 / 2013 - 51.9%

(Freshly opened bottle)

N: Smoke, peat, faint generic fruit (gets stronger after more than 10 minutes), iodine, dried straw bales, seaweed lavers

P: Flinty smokiness, tobacco, peat, alternates between sweet & salty (occasionally at the same time), bacon bits, small amount of sherry/dried fruit

F: Slight bitterness but mostly an extension of the palate with more sweetness as the brine subsides - long

[Dolph Lundgren]

OB Lagavulin Jazz 1995 / 2013 - 51.9%

(Freshly opened bottle)

N: Smoke, peat, faint generic fruit (gets stronger after more than 10 minutes), iodine, dried straw bales, seaweed lavers

P: Flinty smokiness, tobacco, peat, alternates between sweet & salty (occasionally at the same time), bacon bits, small amount of sherry/dried fruit

F: Slight bitterness but mostly an extension of the palate with more sweetness as the brine subsides - long

I've been jonsing to get my hands on a bottle of Jazz Fest or Feis Ile and this doesn't help. I love a "meaty" single malt. Great notes.

[Dolph Lundgren]

I cracked open a 2013 Lag 12 and its really fantastic. The nose out of the gate is smokey, but it settles in the glass and becomes more maritime with a little citrus sweetness. On the palate its strong and smokey. The smoke is a natural fire smoke (no char or ash). After the smoke, citrus, white chocolate and sea salt follow. A little white pepper too. The finish is long and lingers, and as the smoke fades the brine holds for a little while longer slightly drying out the tongue.

This is really great stuff and in a different league from the 2012. I poured a little 2012 just to compare and it was a no contest. The 2013 kind of reminds me of the 2010 as far as quality and vibrancy. It makes the unobtainiaum aspect of PE a little easier to cope with.

I know it may be blasphemy, but I'd love to try an unpeated version of this, for, you know...science.

Either way, this is a great dram.

[AaronWF]

I cracked open a 2013 Lag 12 and its really fantastic. The nose out of the gate is smokey, but it settles in the glass and becomes more maritime with a little citrus sweetness. On the palate its strong and smokey. The smoke is a natural fire smoke (no char or ash). After the smoke, citrus, white chocolate and sea salt follow. A little white pepper too. The finish is long and lingers, and as the smoke fades the brine holds for a little while longer slightly drying out the tongue.

This is really great stuff and in a different league from the 2012. I poured a little 2012 just to compare and it was a no contest. The 2013 kind of reminds me of the 2010 as far as quality and vibrancy. It makes the unobtainiaum aspect of PE a little easier to cope with.

I know it may be blasphemy, but I'd love to try an unpeated version of this, for, you know...science.

Either way, this is a great dram.

I don't know. I may have to pick up one of these after all... Despite my previous lambasting of Lagavulin, the morning after I poured the last of my Lag 16, the glass smelled absolutely divine. It's hard to live in a world without Lagavulin after all.

[Old Lamplighter]

It's hard to live in a world without Lagavulin after all.

[MacinJosh]

I don't know. I may have to pick up one of these after all... Despite my previous lambasting of Lagavulin, the morning after I poured the last of my Lag 16, the glass smelled absolutely divine. It's hard to live in a world without Lagavulin after all.

Agree. It's hard to beat Lagavulin IMHO.....I haven't had a bad pour yet. And as much as I praise Ardbeg, I can't say the same thing about them.

[bad_scientist]

I bought a bottle of Lag 16 2 weeks ago. So far, it's bland, just faint smoke and a little iodine and minerals, with some simple syrup where the sherry would be.

The best experience I've ever had with whisky was the first time I had Lag 16. This sucks.

bottle code reads L3266CMOOO 06027325