Lagavulin 16 Year Old

They’ve not changed the presentation of this whisky in my memory. A regal dark green box, dusky green bottle, understated but assured, as consistent as the contents.

Massively smoky on the nose with some sweetness. The sweetness seems to have a tree resin quality, while the smoke is the main show with whiffs of kippers, sea weed and phenolic peat smoke.

The taste is remarkable with a huge array of flavours overwhelming the palate. It takes time to explore but there is smoke (of course), some bitter malty hints that have been likened to Lap sang tea, peat, coffee, sherry, sea weed, woody resins and bitter chocolate. The mouth feel is rich and full but for a south shore Islay it lacks the mouth puckering phenolic burn, peaty yes but mellow with all the flavours. The bitter flavours come to the fore through the finish but it’s a satisfying long end.

This whisky blew my socks off years ago and it still surprises me. Never disappointing.

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