Lagavulin 12 Year Old bottled 2013 13th Release

The reviewed sample was provided thanks to @Robert99. Thank you, Robert!

Colour: very pale

Nose: moderate to moderately strong intensity. There is plenty of brine, acrid smoke, bitter peat, sweet peat, a little citrus, and a bit of malt. Nicely balanced and very enjoyable. The longer I spend with this nose the more I like it. Water added sweetens the nose, bundles the flavours and mellows them. This nose is very good with water, also. Score: 23/25

Taste: very strong flavours. There is very heavy peat and smoke in the mouth, but the quality of the peat is a little rough, overwhelmingly bitter, and not attractive in the way that the nose is. The brine and citrus are still there. The malt is almost invisible. A little sweetness develops mid-palate, thank God, to partially balance all of the bitterness. Still, this is skewed heavily toward the bitter. Water added generally reduces the intensity of all of the flavours. Score: 21/25

Finish: very long and very strong. I like these bitter flavours better as they slowly tone down throughout the long finish, than I like them on the palatal delivery. Water added sweetens and tones down the finish, bringing out black licorice. I like the finish better without water. Score: 21.5/25

Balance: there is too much bitterness in the peat, and the sweet balance to this is lacking, except in the nose. Score: 21/25

Total Sequential Score: 86.5 points

Strength: moderate in the nose; very strong thereafter. Score: 24/25

Quality: the malt's ok; same for the brine and citrus. The peat is very bitter here, and a little rough. Score: 21.5/25

Variety: very adequate variety throughout, but the bitter peat crowds out the other flavours on the palate. Score: 21.5/25 points

Harmony: excellent in the nose, fair on the palate, good on the finish. Score: 20.5/25

Total Non-Sequential Score: 87.5 points

Comment: This is one of the very rare very heavily peated cask strength whiskies which I've tried in which I felt that the peat and smoke didn't work very well. Despite that, I still enjoy this whisky. The flavours are good to very good, and the intensity of the flavours is laudably high. As distillery bottled Lagavulin 12 Year Old releases go, I like the 2013 release less than the Lagavulin 12 Year Old releases from 2010 and 2012. The 2012 Lagavulin 12 has much lighter flavours, but they are much more balanced. The 2010 release is better in almost every respect

Still, there is much to enjoy with Lagavulin 12 Year Old 2013 Release when you are in that Max-Peat mood

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