This single cask Lagavulin from 1993 is part of the Manager’s Choice series, which was released during 2009 and 2010. The entire series consisted of a single cask bottling of each of Diageo’s (malt) distilleries in Scotland. 27 single casks that is! The aspect for which these bottles got the most notoriety was that they each cost almost 300 euros or more.

There were all kinds of excuses from Diageo’s marketing crew for this, but in my book its still a bit much for a single cask bottling from the 90’s. You can usually buy those for about 60 to 80 euros from independents. While there are of course some distilleries that you hardly ever find a single cask of (Lagavulin, Talisker, Cardhu, Oban) its still a bit much for, say, a Caol Ila or Clynelish

This sample was given to me by my good whisky-friend Rob Stevens, the owner of whisky specialist De Whiskykoning in Den Bosch. Heaps of thanks for that, Rob!

Nose:
It starts with heavy mossy peat. The wet stuff you smell on a damp morning on Islay. There is also a slight grassy note and something that reminds of old leather bounds books in a library. To finish it all off I get a little bit of cigar tobacco.

Taste:
The taste is rather smooth with full heathery smoke and peat. Its a bit salty too, and the general idea I get is of ‘age’. Although this is only a 16 year old whisky there is a lot of maturity here and the thick peaty smell works its magic on me!

Finish:
The finish is long and quite level. The tastes that are there linger for a while and slowly die away all together. After about a minute there is a bit more vibrancy and then its all over…

This is one damn fine whisky. I understand why Lagavulin’s distillery manager would pick a cask like this for the Manager’s Choice since it sums up a lot of Lagavulin’s qualities. I would definetly buy a bottle of this, were it a lot less expensive! The only drawback of this whisky is its price, since its just way too much, in my opinion.

Lagavulin Manager’s Choice, 1993, 54.7%, € 350 at Royal Mile Whiskies

Nose: 10
Taste: 10
Finish: 9
Overal experience: 9
Price/quality: -2

Total: 36 points