Lagavulin 1994 Distillers Edition

Having always heard about the richness and luxury of Lagavulin, I vowed to buy a bottle one day. I never dreamed that day would be today! I have been trying to keep within a budget of $60.00 and less, and recently tasted a lot of wonderful Irish Whiskies. Today, I saw a "New Item" at the liquor store. They were out of the Lagavulin 12 year and 16 year, but had this item which really intrigued me. Only a few dollars more than the regular 16 year, so I thought why not! After I raced home, and opened the bottle, I was greeted with an amazing balance of peat, smoke and sweet sherry. An incredible exercise in balance, I have to say! The taste in nothing like I have tasted before. If I could have taken a peaty, smokey single malt and combined it with a rich, sweet sherry one, this is better than I would imagine it could be. Even with the sherry, this is a dry whisky all the way through. A very dry finish, with the smoke and peat mostly lingering, rather than any sherry. There is not even any of the sweetness that I associate with the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, which is one of my favourites. Another thing that I really like about this, as opposed to some 16-18 year old single malt, is that it's not too smooth. It still has a bit of roughness to it, which keeps it interesting. It also has a lovely warmth to it, on the way down. Not a burn, just a wonderful warmth. I love the dryness at the end, which actually seems to clean my palate - without a hint of bitterness - for the next sip!

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