Lagavulin Locomotive breath

This is the most interesting review I've read in a long time. On one hand, it sounds really delicious to me despite all your warnings. On the other, I have had a couple smoky whiskies that were just "too much" to be good. Never an Islay though; those two nasties were Balcones Brimstone and Lost Spirits Leviathan.

So what's the deal with this thing? Abnormally high peating? Deliberately crazy cask? Luck of the draw?

Thanks, @Georgy!

Why is it that a review like this seems almost irresistible to so many whisky buffs? Maybe because many have not experienced what they would consider to be too much smoke, or too much peat. Inquiring minds want to know. Inquiring psyches want to have had the experience.

@Georgy, is there any more information about this one, age, cask types, etc.? Who bottled it? Also, was it plainly stated/labeled to be from Lagavulin, or was that an inference?

@Victor It says sherry cask finish and that there are only 120 bottles of this stuff in the world. JWWW for Canada.

It doesn't say it's Lagavulin, but a lot of folks who have sampled from this bottle have come to the conclusion that it just has to be it, since it's so similar in character. I may be mistaken, but I hear that independent bottlings of Lagavulin are very few and far between, so who knows, it could be just one of those rare ones. Considering the fact that there are only 120 bottles of this stuff, it sure is rare.

@Victor and @MadSingleMalt Speaking of too much peat and smoke...let's put it this way. If you have your standard Lagavulin 16 on hand, pour yourself a dram, then, maybe, add a wee bit of Talisker 57* North (it will add more saltiness and increase ABV). Now, take a sniff. Nice, isn't it? Peaty and smoky. Don't drink it as yet!! NOW! Take a little bit of ash from your smoking friends and add it to the dirty roasting tray in which you home-barbecued a piece of meat with onions, garlic, a lot of smoked paprika, celery, all covered in crispy bacon bits, some of which got burned in the process. You ate all of that meat, but now you are left with the fond (that caramelized and a little bit burned goodness stuck to the bottom of that tray). You go to your bathroom and you take out your stinky socks you began to wash by hand in a big bucket of water with that cheap alkali soap. You take a little bit of that water and go straight to the kitchen. Now heat up the tray again and deglaze all that fond with that stinky soapy water. Reduce all the remaining liquid down as much as you can to concentrate the flavors. Pour the delicious "sauce" into you dram and now you can enjoy it!

...that's why I say it's too much)

@MadSingleMalt I also assume that this one is a combination of very young, very naughty smoky whisky with some older sherry brothers to balance it out. Smoke, from what I've heard and experienced, tends to subside as time goes by, so this one definitely not a single cask whisky.

@Georgy It sounds more like 62 than 82 points.

Thank you, it's not that often that a whisky that is too much really is too much, if you know what I mean. The Sherry solist for example is "too much" but still very enjoyable. This one seems to land at the wrong end of the spectrum. Did anyone else enjoy it?

@Alexsweden I guess somebody did enjoy it, since a lot of people wanted to take a dram of this stuff home. And I do see how this may be something that people can enjoy. It's just not for me. It's way too intense.

@Alexsweden The Deanston 10 PX finish is a little too much sherry. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

@Nozinan , everything in moderation, including moderation.

@Georgy , I bet your detailed "socks & bacon" recipe was their second choice for a bottle title, but "Locomotive Breath" just edged it out.

I would like to know how they made this thing. You speculate about various ages and caskings, but then it's only 120 bottles, and then you guess that's it not a single cask. So some kind of weird vatting, of which they only packaged 120 bottles' worth? Curious and curiouser!

Obviously with a multiple cask bottling of only 120 total bottles this must be composed of all 50 year old whisky. :-)