Weird Lagavulin Experience

@Misty Hi. I assume it was a fresh bottle you opened? Whatever, it sounds like a nice change. I always thought some of those phenolic notes would and do diminish over time from an opened bottle, although less so from a high abv whisky.

Personally I have had a Lag 12 opened and slowly drunk since 2015 and a Kilchoman Islay malt since 2016.

They are now down to the last 20 and 25cl, so I decanted them into a smaller bottles last week and although I only had wee tastes, they both seemed virtually the same to me. No loss of those phenols seemingly.

Again if your bottle is one of the core 12 yr old bottlings it may be batch variation so worth an explore on reviews/whiskybase, or if it’s an independent you might just have an interesting cask. You probably know all the above anyway but an interesting observation you make.

I also think the changes to those last drams can be quite dramatic. I had the last quarter of a bottle of Deanston Amontillado cask turn very sulphurous very quickly. A shame, but a reminder to me to decant more quickly!

Cheers..

@Misty, you make an interesting point, about shaking the bottle. I often pour out my bottles, from one to another, when replacing a recently finished one of the same release.

@Timp, as you have indicated, there are many variables to consider when assessing an open bottle. I ask myself two questions when doing this.

1. Would I be proud of this whisky if I had made it?

2. Have I referenced other whiskies, which I know well, to confirm that my palate is not off?

Basic steps, but an easy check to remove some doubt....and something I did not always do when previously being critical. This simple process gets me moving in the right direction.

@paddockjudge I like that approach and good rules of thumb.

@Misty I have grown to never expect any whiskies to taste the same over time, whether the bottle is open or closed. .