Lagavulin 10 Year old Travel Exclusive
A hint of Lagavulin
3 280
Review by @Pierre_W
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall80
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This 10-year old Lagavulin was launched during Lagavulin Day at Feis Isle 2019 and is available as a travel retail exclusive. It was matured in both first-fill and refill ex-bourbon casks.
The nose is surprisingly sweet and soft with notes of caramel and lemons. There is quite some brine too, together with (very soft) peat smoke, vanilla and some honey. A very gentle nose indeed, sweet and delicate and almost ‘lush’.
The palate is light-bodied and distinctly but gently smoky. In addition I detected some nice wood notes alongside both salty and sweet flavours (mostly caramel, again, and a bit of green apples).
The finish is of medium length, dry and a tad ashy.
I find myself scratching my head after this tasting session. This is an unassuming but lovely and decent whisky - were it not for the fact that it says ‘Lagavulin’ on the label. There is not much of the usual Lagavulin in there, in my humble opinion. There are none of the phenolic and sooty notes that are so characteristic of the 16-year old, none of the powerful white pepper and lactic flavours that I love in the 8- and 12-year olds. This is a lovely whisky in its own right - but it contains only a hint of Lagavulin.
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@Pierre_W thank you once again for a very thoughtful review.
If the barrels are unusual for Lagavulin that may well be reason enough to sequester them and then make a batch of them for a release in the Travel Retail outlets. Some will like the differences from typical Lagavulin, some not.