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Coming Soon.... Lagavulin Offerman

3 13

@DaveM
DaveM started a discussion

Due to arrive shortly in Pennsylvania

4 years ago

13 replies

@DaveM
DaveM replied

The state controlled liquor system will be asking $84.99.

4 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor replied

Goofy, yet charming. Love the drawing of the character on the box. 11 yo Lagavulin at 46% should be good. .Not inexpensive.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@BlueNote
BlueNote replied

Pity it's not a wee bit heftier, say around 52-58%. Could it be the Ten with another year inside?

Oh, cancel, cancel. I was thinking of Ardbeg for some reason. Maybe time for a dram of Corry.

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

RikS replied

Fancy pantsy box! Oh... and upon a second glance, all carton I see now. Anyone tried the 10 year old - it’s a special travel release I understand ?

4 years ago 0

Jonathan replied

If the 10 were a 16 at 46%, I'd the thrilled . I'm not sure about this one. I'm a sucker for Lagavulin, even though I have never seen Parks and Recreations. Maybe I'll watch it: probably less effort than Game of Thrones. Incidentally, Laga GOT 9 year old has a %46 abv. Could it be the same juice? For that price why not go for the 12 CS?

4 years ago 0

@Nock
Nock replied

Lagavulin has some crazy pricing in my state controlled liquor stores.

Lagavulin 8yo 48% - $49.99 Lagavulin 9yo 46% (Game of Thrones) - $69.99 Lagavulin 11yo 46% (Offerman) - $99.99 Lagavulin 12yo CS - $129.99 Lagavulin 16yo 43% - $99.99

Will I buy the Offerman? Probably. Lagavulin is my wife’s favorite distillery. The rule is I always need to have a bottle of the 16yo open. Do I like that the Offerman is priced the same as the 16yo . . . no. My guess is that I will like the 16yo better.

3% abv increase with a 5 year age statement loss = same price

Thanks Virginia (and Diageo)

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

Wierdo replied

They're releasing a lot of young ish Lagavulins lately. With the 12CS they've now got 8,9,10,11,12 year olds out there and then a jump to 16.

I suppose at least they're giving them age statements.

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC replied

Someone had to ...

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@Nock
Nock replied

@Wierdo very good point and observation. There is a glut of youngish Lagavulin out there right now. Thankfully it does all have an age statement.

I have been laid down with the sickness for the past 4 days which gives me WAY too much time to think. But I have a new theory (with no evidence whatsoever) so take this with a huge grain of salt:

Does anyone else remember the great Lagavulin 16yo drought back around 2005? For several years there Lagavulin 16yo became really scares. And the price really shot up. It went from around $50 a bottle up to almost $100. Yes, it has remained at almost $100 a bottle in the US (a few regions aside) for about 15 years now. I remember because I was living in Seattle and my friends back in Nashville would pay me $100 a bottle to bring back the few bottles I could find in Seattle at $52.

What is my point? Clearly Lagavulin production was at an all time low around the late 80’s (hence the lack of stock in 2005. If Lagavulin wasn’t running at full capacity by 2005 . . . it certainly was by then. And I don’t think they have backed off production since then.

So from 2005-2015 Lagavulin really only had the 16yo, the Distiller’s Edition and a once a year 12yo CS (with the very small Feis Ile release).

But in 2016 we start seeing the 8yo (barrels from 2008)

In 2018 saw the 9yo (Game of Thrones) with stock from 2009

In 2019 we see travel retail 10yo (stock from 2009)

and the 11yo Offerman (stock from 2008)

What could the reason be?

Here is the thing about whisky distillers: they only bottle to fill orders (and projected orders). They don’t just bottle whisky and leave it in bottles waiting for an order. They only bottle as they need.

Here is my working theory. Maybe Diageo is looking at the current demand for Lagavulin 16yo (which is healthy but not massive) as well as the 12yo and Distiller’s Edition. And they are looking at their stock of aging Lagavulin spirit. And they realize that they have WAY more casks aging than necessary to meet the current (and forecasted) demands of the Lagavulin 16yo and line. And the last thing you want is to saturate the market.

So what would you do? Just let a large quantity of sprit get older and older . . . have an ongoing 21yo, 25yo, and 30yo release?

NO WAY

You create a new younger line that you can support. After all, you have plenty of stock to meet all your projected future needs. Might as well get money now. The last thing Lagavulin (Diageo) wants is to be sitting on a ton of inventory when the next bubble bursts. So, you test the waters in 2016 with an 8yo to see what people think (rave reviews). Try again with a 9yo (gobbled up in US). Find a celebrity endorsement and dump the rest in travel retail and independent bottlers. Hopefully one of these will take. Because you have a ton of stock aging and you need a new outlet for it.

So to wrap up my pet theory:

I think Lagavulin has more current stock than demand (and forecasted demand). Could this be the canary in the mine? Could the Scotch whisky industry at last be producing more than the current demand?

4 years ago 5Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

Whisky Advocate Magazine just named the Lagavulin 11 yo Offerman Edition, 46% ABV, the #1 whiski of 2021. It is the only SINGLE malt Scottish whisky they put into their top 10.

www.whiskyadvocate.com/top20/

Taste is a curious thing, is it not? Give me 20 different tasting panels and I expect to get 20 different results. And not one of them matters one bit compared to what your own taste buds will think about the products.

Think for yourself. Get your OWN experience.

2 years ago 6Who liked this?

@TracerBullet
TracerBullet replied

@Victor Agreed. While I enjoy the Offerman Edition I don't think it would even make my top 10 let alone #1. As you say, it is subjective but I have a difficult time understanding how they arrived at that rating. Oh well, I have a couple of bottles of that but I think I will have a dram of something I enjoy a bit more this weekend. To each their own....

2 years ago 5Who liked this?

@BlueNote
BlueNote replied

@TracerBullet I like the Offerman edition, but when I did a head to head with the 8 year old, I liked the 8 better, and it’s considerably cheaper.

2 years ago 5Who liked this?

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@britwhiskyfan@Victor@OdysseusUnbound

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