The Lagavulin Distillers Edition is part of a Diageo series called Distillers Editions. This series takes what might be considered a base whisky from a given distillery, like the Talisker 10 Year or the Oban 14 Year, and gives them further maturation in casks that once held some additional wine or spirit. Historically these have been various kinds of sherries or ports, but could also showcase other choices as the company dictates. The Lagavulin Distillers Edition is aged 16 years and further finished in ex-PX sherry casks.
Distillery: Lagavulin
Region: Islay
Distilled: 1998
Bottled: 2014
Strength: 43%
Bottle: Distilled – 1998; Bottled – 2014
Price: $109.99
Location: Port Ellen
Maturation: Double matured Pedro Ximénez sherry
Nose: Peat, honey, smoke and caramel, brine, stewed fruit, apricot,
Palate: Grain, burnt smoke, pineapple, molasses
Finish: Peat, brine
Comments: Adding water not recommended.
Adam – This is such a remarkably smooth and balanced scotch. The peat is very present but never overwhelms. The flavors unfold one by one, allowing your palette to move from the sweetness of the sherry to the brine to a little bit of smoke that drifts away as the warmth of the peat finish sinks deep into your chest and stays there like a cherished memory. Like the best of the Distillers Editions, the sherry influence from the finish helps integrate the already great flavors present in the 16, no small feat for an already well balanced scotch. The addition of some fruity and sweet notes to dance with the peat and brine in the background render this an Islay with unexpected richness. While a little more expensive than I normally go for, it is absolutely worth an appropriate splurge.
Jenny – On the nose I immediately get smoke and brine. While sipping this scotch, the influence of that smoke and salty brine brings me next to the ocean, sitting around a bonfire wrapped in a cozy, soft blanket.
Meghan – The color on this one is worth mentioning. A nice burnt orange, maybe technically burnt sienna or one of those other seldom used crayon colors in the Crayola 64 pack. It’s got a very clean smoke on the nose, almost too clean for me. What can I say? I like my scotch noses as I like my superheroes – a little dirty, a little dark, a little mysterious. The Lagavulin Distillers Edition is just a little too Captain America for me. Great if that’s what you are into. The palate is clean-cut and balanced though in the front there’s a little hint of pineapple. The mid-palate does provide more substance, a shiitake mushroom-like earthiness that balances the heat. Strange that it feels hot at just 43% but it does. Overall, I found it to be underwhelming. When something is called a Distillers Edition, I want to be blown away. The title makes me expect the best of the best the distillery can offer. Perhaps I ask too much. For the price, I’d rather just go with a solid year designation instead of setting myself up for disappointment.
Sitting around a bonfire wrapped in a cozy, soft blanket.
Michael – This is like stormy weather on a rugged coast. Not a storm that concerns you, a pleasant thunder storm. It’s very soothing.
Mary-Fred – I’m reminded of caramelized onion, that sort of agedness. This isn’t fast cooking, it’s slow cooking.
Caitlin – Low tide-y. I like how low tide feels and smells. And you’re standing at the sea as the tide goes out and you smell the rot. The crushed up smells and sand, and the rotting wood of the dock if you’re near one. This tastes like the first paragraph of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row.
Ben – You can’t really smell the heat against the smoke. There are fruits going on here that are sweet enough to be dessert cooking. It’s like you’re having a BBQ and there’s all the smoke going on. There’s savory in that smoke, but you can also smell the cobbler cooking in the kitchen.
