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Lagavulin 8yo

Lagavulin 8yo 200th anniversary edi

0 790

@sorrenReview by @sorren

11th Apr 2016

0

Lagavulin 8yo
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    90

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Lagavulin distillery officially dates back to 1816, this is when John Jonston and Archibald Campbell constructed two distilleries on the site. One of them became Lagavulin. Records show that illicit distillation occurred in at least ten illegal distilleries on the site dating as far back as 1742. The Lagavulin distillery is located in the village of the same name. image Lagavulin is known for its slow distillation speed and pear shaped pot stills. The two wash stills have a capacity of 11,000 Litres and the two spirit stills of 12,500 Litres each. This year ( 2016) lagavulin celebrates the 200 years of legal distilling with this 200th Aniversary edition, it is said that in the 1880s Alfred Barnard the author of ” the whisky distilleries of the United Kingdom” enjoyed the lagavulin 8 yo and described it as ” exceptionally fine ” maybe this is one reason the distillery decided to recreate this expression for the celebrations. image This bottle has an abv of 48%.

Nose.. As expected this is a whopper. Instantly it is a smoke infused fruit garden, smouldering wood/ charcoal and burnt oranges, toffee apples and dark molasses. It drifts in and out off smouldering smoke to a more delicate aromatic smoke, quite Devine.

Palate.. A full on explosion of big flavours hit every part of your mouth, a quite extraordinary drying feeling but at the same time very fresh and fruity sweet. Intense wood smoke mingles with notes of caramelised oranges and baked pear drowning in rich honey. Liquorice and tobacco smoke are detectable along with some subtle spices.

Finish.. A dry, smokey bonfire that just goes on and on.

Thoughts.. This is a smoke infused time bomb that when it goes bang it really explodes a barrage of flavours and aromas into every part of your senses that is possible.. This is the Heineken of whisky in that it refreshes the parts other types of whisky cannot reach.. A rather magnificent whisky that really should not be a one off.. It has such complexity and so many layers that this needs to be given time and respect in order to fully appreciate what you have in the glass

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7 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@sorren, thanks for your review. Great to hear that you are liking the 8 year old. Would you please make some comparisons with the 12 yo CS and the standard 16 yo with respect to quality and density of flavours?

Why in the world would Diageo make Lagavulin 8 yo a one-off? The only good way out of the shortage of aged stocks for the distillers is to sell cask strength or near cask-strength younger whisky...which is to say trade off proof for age, flavour density for additional wood influence.

Do I have anything against younger whisky? Of course not. There is lots of great stuff among the younger products. After all, Lagavulin 8 yo is 60% longer aged than is Bruichladdich Octomore.

8 years ago 0

@sorren
sorren commented

Hi Victor, to try compare this to the other expression is not so easy to me as I rarely drink them, but this does have the Lagavulin character but and it is a but.. This does seem more beefy, but in a subtle way if you know what I mean, I would say I did prefer this to the regular 16 but do prefer the distillers edition. I do like the 16 distiller editions and this is way different for obvious reasons. Although it is a 8yo it does feel older, more mature and well balanced. Also I should point out this review was done on a newly opened bottle so my view may change in a few months, I will post my update if it does.. I'm sure if you are a Lagavulin fan then you will love this..

8 years ago 0

@MaltActivist
MaltActivist commented

@sorren thanks for the review. Will def try this next month when I'm there.

@Victor - I will look at comparing them for you. But you'll have to give me a month!

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@MaltActivist, I very much look forward to reading your take on the Lagavulin 8 yo. In the meantime, I am already sold on the 8 yo having read a glowing endorsement from @bwmccoy.

8 years ago 0

@Benancio
Benancio commented

@sorren. Great review. This expression of Lagavulin sounds amazing. After this review it will be hard to leave it one the shelf. It's been quite awhile that I've bought a bottle of Lagavulin 16, last few bottles didn't measure up to what they put out 10 years ago. I've wondered what a younger Lagavulin might be like. I really enjoy the 12y expression very much. I too would like to know how it compares to the 12y?

Thx for a nice review

8 years ago 0

@sorren
sorren commented

Thanks for the comments Benancio.. I will try to do s head to head as soon as I go get a bottle of 12yo ..

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

The problem with comparing to the 12 YO is that the 12 is very batch-dependent. I'm sure on their own each is good but head to head I found the 2011 far superior to the 2014.

This one is good in its own right. A little hot neat, but tames nicely with a few drops of water, time and air.

I did not find the 12 CS "hot".

I would love to see the 8 as a 10 YO but then it would be very similar to the 12 CS, and more expensive. I think overall I like it better than the 16.

8 years ago 0