Lagavulin

Whisky #428: Lagavulin 200th Anniversary Limited Edition 8 Year Old Single Malt

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img_7955.jpgLagavulin 200th Anniversary Limited Edition 8 Year Old Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 48%. Tasted at home, $100 (bottle).

Colour: A very pale straw.

Nose: Sweet lemon sherbet, some faint floral notes – think rose petals. A few subtle bread and biscuit aromas…like opening a packet of buttery shortbread.

Palate: Such a smooth, oily mouthfeel as you take the first sip. The warmth and flavours quickly quickly build – a smokey, savoury, food-like saltiness. It reminds me of a crispy skin smoked salmon fillet; sea salt flakes sprinkled atop and the crispy caramelisation of the skin giving a few sweeter notes. Some bok choy with hoisin sauce on the side to provide that rich salty tang.

Finish: A few aniseed notes in the fade, black jelly beans or those Allen’s black cat lollies. A long drying finish, plenty of .

Comments: Light on for peatiness in the nose, but it saves its punch for the palate and the long, glorious finish. For me, it’s not an overly smokey whisky – but it packs loads of punch in terms of peaty, organic notes.

I actually found this one a bit challenging to review – it took a few drams to really unpick all the layers. Looking back on my tasting notes, maybe I was just over-analysing it…this is a reasonably simple whisky with some great flavours vying for your attention. It’s not as smooth or as smokey as the Lagavulin 16, nor as flavoursome as the Lagavulin 12 Year Old Cask Strength, but it definitely complements the lineup and doesn’t tread on the toes of its elder siblings. The Lagavulin 12 Year Old Cask Strength is still by far my favourite expression though.

Peat Week! 7 Days of Peated Whisky

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img_7936.jpgIt’s Peat Week here at Whisky a Day! 7 days of peated whisky.

It’s been a rainy Sunday here in Sydney, one of those long lazy afternoons that you just don’t want to finish. Not because it’s been a particularly spectacular day, but mainly because it’s been a relaxing day that is soon to be cut short by the notion of heading back to work again tomorrow morning!

So with the last vestiges of cool weather lingering, I thought it the perfect excuse to have a peated dram. Which led me to think – bugger it, why not have a whole week of peated whisky? Exploring a few different styles of peated whisky?

To a lot of people, peated whisky equates to whisky from the island of Islay in Scotland. While there are many fine examples of peated whisky from Islay, I thought it would be interesting to also explore a few peated whiskies produced in other regions around Scotland as well as a little further afield.

So here’s this week’s lineup…

Some Australian whisky to start as we explore the peated range from Limeburners. Closely followed by the recently released (and much anticipated) Lagavulin 8 Year Old to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lagavulin distillery. The Johnnie Walker Double Black then gets a call-up, highlighting that it’s not just single malts that get all the peat. Moving across to Speyside where we’ll dabble in some Glenrothes, followed by zipping back west to the Isle of Skye to sample the Talisker Storm. Then it’s back to the home of peaty whisky – Islay – for the Bowmore 18 Year Old, before finishing off the week in style with a very rare Port Ellen 30 Year Old bottled by Douglas Laing.

So strap in your tastebuds, slip into those comfy slippers and turn off the fire alarms…it could get a little smokey in here this week.

Whisky #381 – 2014 Lagavulin 12 Year Old Limited Edition Cask Strength Single Malt

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IMG_5544.JPG2014 Lagavulin 12 Year Old Limited Edition Cask Strength Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 54.40%. Tasted at my good mate Kiwi’s place, $130 (bottle).

Colour: Crisp, crystal clear gold.

Nose: Sweet meaty notes, like bacon and maple syrup. Light sweet smoke, camphor, buttery prickly ash.

Palate: Sea salt with a buttery lemon tang. Caramelised shellfish, like the flavours you get when you’ve grilled lobster tail or fresh bugs on the BBQ. Full flavoured without being overpowering.

Finish: Quite a long, salty and drying finish; some mocha notes too. With time in the glass the finish also seems to deliver some more smoke & flavours more akin to the Lagavulin 16 year old, yet in a more delicate way. Some residual warmth; powdery cocoa & oaky vanilla notes in the slow, gentle fade.

Comments: A much more crisp and nuanced dram than the Lagavulin 16; a lot less smoke but there is still the expected element of Islay peat that you would hope from a Lagavulin. It’s been matured in American oak rather than ex Sherry casks like its 16 year old stablemate, and bottled at a natural cask strength of 54.4%.

I have to admit I took a while to taste this one, which involved topping up the glass a number of times. In part because it’s quite a smooth yet multi-layered dram that seems to reveal just a little more with each sniff or sip, but also partly because I was enjoying it so much and it’s so easy drinking that I simply got blissfully distracted from the task at hand.

Whisky #183 – Lagavulin 16 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3464Lagavulin 16 Year Old Single Malt. Islay, Scotland. ABV: 43.00%. Tasted at The Royal, $15.

Colour: Deep coppery amber.

Nose: The scent is instantly recognisable, unmistakably Lagavulin. I can smell it from a metre away. Big peat, lots of smoke. Another sniff reveals some medicinal scents.

Palate: Quite an oily mouthfeel, you really feel the smoke rolling in and enveloping your whole palate. Big flavours, salty smoke dominates.

Finish: Short on heat, very long on flavour and smoke. A touch of residual sweetness too which I don’t recall from the last time I tasted a dram of it (admitted quite a while ago). Probably one of the longest finishes you can get. Still loads of peat.

Comments: About time I tackled some of the more readily available whiskies…my strategy so far this year has been to generally select some of the more unusual whiskies available at each bar, keeping the more common ones up my sleeve. This approach has held me in good stead as I’ve not yet walked into a bar where I’ve had all of their whiskies. I’m glad that I’ve finally gotten around to tasting the Lagavulin 16, it’s always been an old favourite and it didn’t disappoint here upon re-tasting it for the first time in a while.