A Graduation Dram

If you're willing to spend that much I would recommend the Yamazaki 18 or the Talisker 20 yo. Both special whiskies in my opinion.

Forgot to mention that the Talisker 1982 20 yo may be difficult to find, but it is out there ;)

Not sure of availability and price in your area but Balvenie Tun 1401 certainly falls under extra special.

Since the graduation ceremony is called a commencement it's truly the beginning of something, not the end. With that in mind I might go for something more youthful. There's a very nice Kilchoman single bourbon cask available in the USA; distilled in 2007, bottled at 5 years old in 2012, cask #360, 59.9%. Or there's another 5 year old: Bruichladdich Octomore 04.2 Comus, 61%. At double that age you could find a Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC 10, 59.8%.

Whatever you decide to pick up I hope you enjoy it. Congratulations.

Since you are already a big fan of Lagavulin 16, I suggest the Lagavulin 12 yo. I expect that you would also be quite pleased by the wonderful Glenfarclas 15, or the Talisker 57 Degrees North.

@stakenblocken As @two-bit cowboy says your are starting a new journey in your life. I would agree a great way to celebrate is an Octomore however I also think that something special for the exploration that you are about to take would be the Shackleton whisky. Yes it's a blend and pricey but You can see the theme I was going for. Good luck enjoy your new chapter Carpi D emu. :)

@Chookster Although I'm not that big of a Balvenie fan, I had considered Tun 1401. It's just too hard to get. And even though I'm sure it's a fantastic value, I still wouldn't feel good about spending that much.

@two-bit cowboy I've thought about Octomore too. Comus sounds pretty good and it's priced lower than the other ones still available. I think if I could still find a bottle of Octomore Orpheus I'd probably snatch that up in a heartbeat.

@Victor After I posted this topic last night I thought about Talisker 57 too. That is supposed to be excellent for the price. The only thing holding me back on that is I currently have a bottle of Talisker DE (which is absolutely incredible for $65) and I think I'd rather get something different. I've also tried Lagavulin 12 once in a bar and now I don't think I want to get something I've had already.

At this point I think I'm going to go with either Octomore Comus or Hakushu 18. I'd still like to try Glenfarclas 15 a lot but I currently have a bottle of Glendronach 15, and it sounds like the two are pretty similar.

And thank you for the congrats and all the advice!

@stakenblocken, the Hakushu 18 would be an excellent choice! Fantastic dram!

@CanadianNinja I've had Yamazaki 12 and 18 and I've had Hakushu 12. I liked Yamazaki 18 the best even though a lot of people I encounter actually like the 12 year better. Not even taking price into account a lot of people just think it's straight up better. I did like Hakushu 12 more than Yamazaki 12 though, so Hakushu 18 is definitely in the running. I just found this though and I'm now tempted to do something very stupid.

www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-17994.aspx

Never a mistake considering a Karuizawa @stakenblocken! They produced some great whisky. Just remember that the price is in pounds... Ouch!! ;)