Another Lagavulin for Feis Ile! I knew I had this on the shelf, and I had carefully sipped from my sample before, but never got around to writing a review yet. A good thing that a holiday came up a little while ago!

Sherry Treated means that the casks have contained sherry before, but not for the maturation of said sherry. The only put it in to give the whisky a bit of a different flavor. Of course, American oak is used in the sherry industry a lot nowadays, since European oak is far more rare, far more impractical (less straight growing) and therefore far more expensive.

This one does have quite a significant age to it, at 19 years old. It makes for one of the older Lagavulins of recent years, except for the Casks of Distinction (here and here).

Sniff:
A very ‘south east Islay dram’ with hint of tar and creosote. Coastal salinity with fishing nets. So, wet rope too. Barley and peat smoke. It could as well be Ardbeg. A very gentle nose, actually, with lots to be discovered.

Sip:
The palate is a bit lighter than I expected with less complexity. Smoke, oak shavings, barley, a bit of tar. Ever so slightly ashy with a hint of ‘grey pepper’ (a mix of black and white)

Swallow:
The finish amps up the harbor and tar, smoke and ash. Not complex, but not a punch in the gut either.

A very Ardbeggy Lagavulin. Which means that I find more sooty notes than I’m used from the distillery. The typical flavors of tea and orange are almost entire missing, which is something I normally get from the 16 year old. And this is just a couple of years older with a rather similar (I would assume) maturation.

Having said that, it does make it a bit more interesting, since that means it’s something different, and less of a slightly different take on the regular stuff.

88/100

Available in various places, for varying prices starting at € 419