Lagavulin 12 YO Cask Strength 2015

Sounds good. I'd like to try some other Lagavulin variations. Interesting comment about the temperature - I find a little hand warmth can make a huge difference to my enjoyment of a dram. I've seen you mention the "Ashok manoeuvre" a few times now - can you share the secret? I haven't managed to find the instructions yet. Cheers

It's not so much a secret as a technique he used, with most of the drams in the 2014 Spirit of Toronto Masterclass, but specifically the effect on the Peated Cask Strength was magical.

While he spoke too us about an aspect of Amrut malt, he instructed us to cup the bowl of the stemmed glass with one hand and cover the top with the other. The warmth increased the volatility of the malt, and the nose opened up beautifully. The whisky exploded in the mouth...

The Modified Ashok Manoeuvre was a product of my laziness. I have a small desktop computer that has a cooling fan that blows heated air across the back of my desk. I just place a covered glass at the outlet and it does the work for me.

Ha ha genius. Thanks for that. I think I like the hands on method myself. One thing I've found is that often I stick my nose deep into the glass trying to detect those subtle notes when sometimes I pick up more with my nose wafting a couple of inches away.

Wonderful stuff - I'm hanging onto it as long as I can...

Probably my favorite peater, with Laphroaig 10 CS close behind. Big problem is the huge jump in price over the last two years. Went from $65 to $80 to $110 to $140 in that time frame. They can piss off, along with Macallan and Dalmore. I can get great high strength bourbons for $35-$65, so I've moved in that direction.

@Taco , I agree. I got one bottle of Lagavulin 12 was it was ~$100 (2014). I would hardly pay that amount again, let alone the $120 that the newer ones are price at.

It's great, but there's plenty of stuff that's just as good for a fraction of the price.

@Taco

Back in 2011 I think it was, the Lag 12 2010 was available at the KGBO for just over $100. I asked a friend to get one of the last bottles in London, and he refused to let me pay him back. I still have that bottle unopened. After tasting the 2011 and 2014 versions I was keen to have a supply but the price last winter for the 2015, $160, was way too much.

The only reason I got it was that I had been gifted a "Fiddich" 18 (bought for ~$120 in Calgary) which the LCBO gladly exchanged for me (They gave me the KGBO price and I added $3.50.

I did a similar trade in with a Glenmorangie signet for some pricy Caol Ila last year as well. It's the only way I can afford expensive whiskies...not with my own money.

@Nozinan In 2014, Lag 12 was $105, at the end of 2015 it was $115 and last year it jumped to $140 and this year it is $160. When will it end?

@Robert99 It'll end when we stop buying it!! :P

@talexander Your so right. While a lot of whiskies went up, Bowmore 18 went down $20 or $30 dollars in the last two years.

@Robert99 If it's anything like the one I reviewed it's still too expensive

@Nozinan I tried 3 different bottles of the same batch, one was great, the second was fair and the third was a bit off. I ended up with the last one. I will not buy another one before a long time.

@Robert99, very interesting. Your experience sounds to me to be a good demonstration about how much bottles of peated whisky can vary depending upon when they were bottled within the same bottling run.

I've seen substantial differences in bottles of Uigeadail procured from different stores in different states which had been bottled on the very same day.

@Victor to what extent is a batch mixed before/during a bottling run?

@Victor The three bottles I am referring to were from the same store. The first one had a unique hemp rope note that I was crazy about, the second was almost a sherry monster and the third had a blackcurrant bud vegetal note that was over the top.

That makes me wondering about the way they mixed all the casks before bottling. What do you call a batch? I assumed it was all the bottles coming out from a mix of specifics casks at one time but I'm not sure anymore.

@plattvillepeat, I think that only someone present during a bottling run can say exactly how much or how little mixing/agitation/variation takes place during the process. I wish I knew.

@Robert99, I understand batch to refer to a vatting of barrels/casks which are then bottled. There is, apparently, the possibility of significant variation within the bottles coming from one vatting/bottling.

I've never seen how a bottling operation works, but it seems to me that there could be multiple batches that happen on the same day and go out under the same ID. So you'd have two bottles that are labeled as coming "from the same batch," but they're actually different. Just speculating!

Yo @Taco, K&L started flogging a Lagavulin 12 price reduction today. $100.

spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spiri…

Very good review and decent comments. I wish Serge @Whiskyfun would stop giving it such high marks. Then maybe the price will come down. The 2012 batch was exceptional.

@MadSingleMalt - That is not so bad but I do the math and can get bottles of Ardbeg 10, ECBP, and WT 101 for about that price. Heck, if money was not an object, I'd be stocked with GD18, Balvenie 17, Ardbeg 23, Macallan 18, HP 25, etc. I do have a sealed Booker's 25th Anniversary, which some show online for $700-800. First guy to send me $700 can have it! Then I could justify $100 for the Laga 12.