Today some of the craziest recent Lagavulin


September 10, 2024

WF’s Little Duos, today some of the craziest recent Lagavulins

It's always a pleasure to taste Lagavulin, even if just two at a time. We'll start with the oldest one, as it has the lowest alcohol content, by far.

Iain McArthur (Diageo)

Lagavulin 31 yo 1991/2023 (45.6%, OB, Cask of Distinction, for GourmetPool, fresh-charred American oak hogshead, cask #6498, 213 bottles)

Lagavulin 31 yo 1991/2023 (45.6%, OB, Cask of Distinction, selected by Sebastian Jaeger for GourmetPool, fresh-charred American oak hogshead, cask #6498, 213 bottles)

A cask destined for Germany, though these bottles have surely crossed many borders by now. No need to introduce the 1991s, but what’s particularly intriguing here is the cask, far from the hefty sherry types. Colour: pale white wine (remarkably). Nose: ah, we’ve landed squarely in the heart of Lagavulin. It’s like being locked inside the Port Ellen Maltings for a good three days. I find heaps of cold and hot ashes, olives and capers, entire packets of nori, curries, roasted pistachios, dried kelp on the beach, miso, and even mussels in white wine and rollmops. There’s a distinctively intense shochu-like quality here, utterly mad and almost entirely devoid of fruit here. Mouth: adios, bye-bye, auf Wiedersehen. It’s as if this whisky has been matured in pure ashes (fill a jar with ashes, add new-make, wait). Only after a moment do the olives, smoked fish, Far Eastern soups, seawater, and the like come through. The precision and austere grandeur are extraordinary. Right then, let’s settle down. Finish: massive mezcal. Well, actually, massive Lagavulin, with a touch of fir wood. Comments: before this regenerated hogshead, could this baby have secretly spent time maturing in stone jars? You’d be hard-pressed to get closer to the pure distillate than this, and at over thirty years of age, no less.
SGP:377 - 94 points.

Mr. Iain ‘Pinkie’ McArthur, the floor is yours…

Lagavulin 18 yo ‘Iain’s Farewell Dram’ (58.7%, OB, 2nd fill manzanilla, 212 bottles, 2023)

Pinkie’s retirement was akin to dismantling the remains of Dunyvaig or flattening the Paps of Jura—it’s left quite a mark. The choice of a 2nd fill manzanilla cask shows a level of intellectual brilliance that surpasses even that of Sharon Stone (though the resemblance stops there). Colour: gold. Nose: this is huge. There’s a pronounced ‘sulphurous’ quality that isn’t actually sulphur, if you catch my drift. A freshly extinguished beach fire, white truffles from Piedmont, green walnuts (thank you, manzanilla), wild mushrooms, whiffs of pickles in brine, and heaps of seaweed. Again, the fruit is incredibly discreet. With water: no changes whatsoever. Mouth (neat): for a 2nd fill, there’s still quite a lot of manzanilla influence, which is just as well—we’re fans of manzanilla, especially when En Rama. So, seawater, chalk, walnuts, mustard, radishes, oysters, and an avalanche of ashes. Dazzling, though this style does tend to divide opinions. Buying a bottle doesn’t exactly entitle you to master this liquid, does it? With water: again, little change. Perhaps even more smoked oysters and a true punch of salt, or more accurately, salinity. Finish: monstrously long. Salt, olives, vinegar, oysters, mustard, cigar ash, ‘sulphur’, and walnuts. Dry as a bone, with absolutely zero sweetness—there’s more sugar in a piece of granite. Comments: how many times can one retire in a career on Islay?
SGP:377 - 94 points.

It's a tie. I have to say, we saw it coming. I believe these two bottles alone more than make up for the very slightly questionable tequila flavourings imposed upon this magical whisky that is Lagavulin. Just saying.

Check the index of all Lagavulin we've tasted so far