My First Taste Of Lagavulin

Wow, no real activity here since I started a thread myself (about Ardbeg Uigeadail) two years ago? (Well, other than a post from a fellow who wanted to buy "Thorne" Scotch, apparently unaware that that distillery went out of business in 1914, over 100 years earlier.)

Well, how about something on-topic? Tonight, for the first time in my life, I purchased some Lagavulin (specifically, a 750ml bottle of their 8-year-old). Here are my tasting notes I posted to Facebook:

"Wow, what a peaty, smokey, spicey, olivey, briney, tobaccoey, malty, caramely beverage. Rather like Laphroaig, but more masculine and aggressive. If Laphroaig is The Lady Of Islay, then Lagavulin is The Gentleman Of Islay. Gotta be careful with this one, though; it's smooth and alluring and easy to guzzle (even straight and room-temp), but it's 96 proof so if you drink more than a couple of ounces it'll knock you on your ass."

So, who else here likes Lagavulin?

And, any single-malt scotch recommendations? I like sweet and spicey whiskeys (Macallan, Glenmorangie), and peaty Islay whiskeys (Laphroaig, Bowmore, Ardbeg, Lagavulin), But I find the Speyside style (Glen Livet, Glen Fiddich) rather boring. I much prefer "interesting and complex" over "mild and inoffensive".

Two whiskeys I've been meaning to try are Aberlour and Talisker. How do they compare to Lagavulin?

Reply to
Robbie Hatley
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I used to love Lagavulin but then found it overpowering, while I still very much enjoy Laphroaig. If you enjoy interesting and complex it might be worth you look out for Longrow from the Springbank stable of whisky. It's rather nicely peated and might meet your needs.

At the moment I'm enjoying a Loch Lomond from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and enjoying it enormously. Because I live close to the vaults it makes it (all too) easy to pop down for another bottle!

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Reply to
Steve Hodgson

Aberlour is quite drinkable, but it's not an in-your-face malt like the south Islays. Talisker is from Skye. It has less peat than the peaty Islays, but a really interesting peppery element. I like it as well as the best Islays.

Don't ignore the Caol Ila. It has a place among the great Islay malts. But the distillery hasn't stuck to a well defined flavour profile, and that might have hurt its popularity.

You might also want to keep an eye out for Islay bottlings under other names. Some of the distilleries, notably Lagavulin, sometimes sell casks that do not quite fit the official distillery profile, and they show up with no age statement and without the name of the distillery that made them.

The one that's available in Canada at the moment is Smokehead, and people who really know their single malts mostly agree that it's a young Lagavulin, younger than the 8-year-old you like. It's very peaty, tarry, smoky and aggressive, in your face. A similar malt that I recall from years ago is Finlaggan and there were others I've forgotten. Ardbeg and Caol Ila are other possible sources for such malts.

If you encounter an unidentified Islay, especially at a good price, take a chance on it, or run an Internet search. Somebody out there has tried it and written about it. Tasting notes can be outrageously purple prose, but once you've read a few descriptions of malts you have tasted yourself, you can develop a sense of what they mean.

(I'm retired and can't afford to keep many single malts around these days. At the moment, I have a Smokehead and a Laphroaig 10 on the go. They're reasonably priced and, to my palate, very tasty.)

bill

Reply to
bill van

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