Lagavulin 21 Year Old

Lagavulin. A lot of us peat lovers adore the 16 year old, with it’s perfect harmony, wonderful nose and palate, and good price (for a 16 year old that good, it’s well priced). The 12 year old is a different animal altogether, kicking, and massive in ABV%. The 1991 DE is another one most of us enjoy from time to time, and is a lovely sherry edition to the family.

Lagavulin 21…

We all hear it’s amazing.We all want one in our collection. Don’t we ?

I’ve been hearing how good this dram is for a lot of time now, people who had it, raving how fabulous it is,how complex and different it is form every other Lagavulin they had. The problem is that only 6,642 bottles of this were EVER made. when released they sold for around 90 GBP, and now as they are becoming more rare it’s not uncommon to find a bottle for more then 400 GBP. So, most of us can’t afford those. I’ve yet to find a sample of this online, and that would also be very expensive.

Two weeks ago, i visited a friend for some dramming action. We had a few lovely drams, and then he suggested we try a sample of a 21 he has. I was thrilled. Would it deliver all i was expecting of it? Will it be just ‘good’ and over-hyped? It was time to find out for myself. I personally think that Sherry and Peat can be a great combination if done right (Ardbeg Uigedail for example, or the Lagavuling DEs) , and this my friends, is a great demo of how well can peated malts can age in a sherry cask.

I guess you are asking yourselves now : “so, was it THAT good? was it ALL your excepted from it”?

My answer is short and sweet : “Oh yeah!”. It’s gorgeous, It’s brilliant. It really is.

Below you can find my notes. I am guilty of not giving it more time to ‘rest’ in the glass. it was late, i was short on time – it’s a crime. i know

Nose: Starts with big sherry balsamic. (this is a lagavulin?!), smoke, leather, new sandals kind of (remember when you were a kid, and got your biblical sandals?) , peat smoke, and smoked kippers. The nose is very complex, and the peat and smoke are light…

With water the nose gets a wee more tarry,and some blood oranges are more evident. I did not get any sulphur notes as described in the post by Jeff who tasted this one a few months back.

Palate : Big peat hits your palate, smoke fills your mouth, the smoked kippers are here big time,fire, half burnt cinders, iodine, Lagavulin, all mixed with some sweeter sherry, and malty notes. I’ve just scratched the surface over here. it needs more time…

Finish : Endless after campfire smoke, iodine, sweet burnt bacon.

H2O : i tried adding some water to it, and my friend added quite a bit of water at the end, and i must say this dram does not really need any. It shines with no water, and the 56.6% is not too much here by any means, no sir!

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