Lagavulin 16 year old

Lagavulin 16 y.o has really dropped in quality :( Anyone else agree with this?

I have to admit I've asked myself if Lagavulin's quality has gone down. Having said as much, I still love it, and it still tastes pretty close to the dram I first fell in love with.

One of my favorites. Undoubtedbly one of the best in the distilleries' standard sortiment. I have tasted a lot of Islay whisky, and you don't find any better than this if you're not willing to pay a lot of money.

It's my first bottle so I can't judge if it dropped in quality ! I do know that I really like the Lagavullin 16y ! Still one of the best Islay Malts I tasted !

I love the peated malts and thus far, the Lagavulin 16 is my favorite. But mood swings as well as the desire to make Lagavulin an ongoing special dram, I have other styles opened.

Laphroaig when in the mood for a medicinal hit, HP12 for a mild peat moment and, yet to open various Ardbeg expressions that will satisfy my tastes and curiosity from the upper reaches of the ever so useful flavour profile map of what has turned out to be a dram fine and interesting journey.

www.lfw.co.uk/diageo/flavourmap.html

@Whisky1, after having a couple of truly memorable drams of Lagavulin 16 at different locations 6+ years ago, I finally went out and bought myself a bottle. My bottle is good, but it tastes like a "lite" version of the first two drams, presumably from earlier year-batches, that I remember. The peating seems much less now with my fully owned bottle, as does the overall flavour intensity. This is a sad state of affairs when the 6+ months old memory of a dram of whisky is more impressive to one than the whisky in the glass in one's hand. The bottle I have is good, but it is not what I remember so fondly.

@Victor Thus another reason I wish there were some distilled / bottling dates from release to release so we can benchmark from more than memory. Such a mystery and no doubt by design.

On a similar skew, the cask strength 12 year expression is quite entertaining. The 16 is a little fickle for me, once in a while being a very decent dram and others being sub par. I have not willed myself to actually put money on it instead buying more worthwhile whiskies (in my humble opinion).

As I already wrote on another post, my bottle of laga 16 completely flattened after only 10 months being open. The leathery and intense smokiness is gone, leaving its place to a shy sweet peatyness. The biggest change I noticed was however in the body. Whereas before it was thick and quite oily now is light and watery. A real disappointement. This is the bottle in which I noticed the most conspicuous flavor development, alas for the worse. I now use the remains of the bottle to smoke up speysiders :p.

I forgot to mention it's quite a pity that happened, as I think the laga 16 is probably the best Islay entry malt. In my opinion much more complex and fun than the ardbeg 10 and the laphroaig 10. Cheers

@drinix I am just baffled at the idea of making a bottle of Lagavulin last 10 months...

Regarding differences between bottles, my 1st HP12 was quite engaging, with a very noticeable peaty and even rubbery nose, which made for a wonderful all-rounder; but my current bottle has nearly no detectable peat, and it is more like an ordinary highlander. But I also wonder if I'm the one who changed ? And I wish i would have left some in the old bottle for comparison.

So @Drinix, regarding your flattened bottle, It might be useful if you opened a new Laga 16 when you still have a bit of the old stuff left ... I'd love to hear of the results ! And BTW, my old Springbank 10 seems to have dropped off quite rapidly as well over time ... but that's a more complex story.

@HP12, I certaintly identify with your "Islays for the right mood". I enjoy many of the Islay-styles, especially each of the following, which are quite distinctive: Ardmore Trad Cask (tasty almond zesty peat), Springbank 10-LongrowCV-Ledaig 10 (complex sweet and briny flavors with bacon peat), Laga 16 (complex, balanced, rich), Laph Qtr (complex, balanced, iodine and smoke), Bruichladdich Rocks and Peat (multi-flavored with lots going on), Ardbeg 10 (briny seaweed and smoke), and Bowmore 12/15 (for the motor oil and tar effect). Then there are the several cask strengths :) Did I miss any moods or bottles ? :)

@AboutChoice All that's missing is a little background music and a couple friends to share some drams with. Thx for the recommendations.

As for the Highland Park 12 experience, I agree, the peat layer has been diluted but I'm not sure if it's due to my palate adjusting or malt degradation. I'm thinking it's the former. I remember when I had my first dram of HP12, the peat was so evident on my palate and remember waking up the next morning with a small extinguished camp fire in my mouth (and loved it).

These days, the peat is not as pronounced in the HP12 although when I did a recent review, I had not had a dram of it for a few weeks and it seemed nicely peated from when I first recalled and enjoyed my original dram or two.

So I'm thinking it's partly palate conditioning and exercising the senses with a wide spectrum of flavor profiles in order to keep the original in sensation check. Further experience and experimentation is needed and I am up for the challenge.

@Victor, that's interesting that you find it more relaxed in the peat. I found it to be almost a little over balanced in the smoke on the finish. My bottle is this years expression. Not to talk it down, it's a wonderful dram. My cousin, another artist, and myself knocked down a good percentage of the bottle on evening.

I thought my Lagavulin was spectaculer until I tried it side by side with a Jura Prophecy. The warm and peating taste over whelmed me.

Stew

Have any of you fine gents tried the Lagavulin 21 yr or 25yr? I've only heard of their legends. I know Whiskey Exchange has them for sale but can't pull the trigger for GBP 1300 for the 21yr.

Correction...GBP650 for the 21yr and GBP1300(at auction) for the 25yr

10 months for an open bottle of any whisky, let alone a Lagavulin?!? Yikes. Whisky is meant for drinking and an open bottle shouldn't be undrunk for more than a few weeks, tops. It's a waste. Just open it and drink it. Done.

@Wodha Love the philosophy! Unfortunatly I can't afford to replenish at that rate at the moment, but I agree in principle.

@whiskyshiba If you are real keen, currently there are some 21yo available on ebay for £410. Quite a good price. check it out.

cgi.ebay.co.uk/LAGAVULIN-21yo-Single-Malt-S…

@mster Thank you for that info. But I was wondering if you or anyone else has tried the 21yr or the 25yr Lagavulin. The only place that I've seen it was at Hole In One bar in NYC but couldn't order a dram due the exorbitant price.

@Youngupstart Have to agree here. The Lagavulin 12 year from 2010 blows away the 16 from any year. The 12 also betters the 1991 Distiller's Edition, which I see is still this forum's #2 rated whisky.