Lagavulin 8 Year Old – 48% abv

Info: It’s Lagavulin’s 200th anniversary year this year, so they’re celebrating in various ways, one of which is by releasing this 8yo special release. It’s a limited edition and won’t be around forever, but there’s plenty of it we’re told.

Colour: Light straw, very natural; if colouring has been used then it’s quite a light touch.

Nose: The nose is somewhat lighter than expected, it’s quite sweet, with those good oily tarrey basey peat notes that I love in Lagavulin. Behind the peat there’s some slightly overripe tropical fruits. Fresh and sea breezy.

Palate: Instantly quite sweet on your tongue, followed up by mossy peat which soon turns into the heavier oily costal kind of peat you might expect which covers your tongue with quite thick feeling spirit, it certainly benefits from no chill filtration. The strength, for me, means it’s really easily accessed, not too strong to be hot, but strong enough to be flavoursome and enjoyable. Very small pinch of spices, some barley, and lots of fresh and tropical fruits. There’s a little bit of cream there, and a small dollop of milk chocolate too.

Finish: Sweet, peaty and quite long. It’s what you’d hope for!

Thoughts: It’s a great younger Lagavulin, a treat from a distillery that doesn’t often offer a great deal of variation from it’s core style (yearly Feis and 12yo releases aside). It’s refined and smooth, but also big and robust. It’s very much a drinking dram, please don’t leave it on your shelf and worship it, get it open and drink it, drink and enjoy. Some people have moaned about the price… well, that’s fine, just go ahead and stick with the 16yo. For those of us who are Lagavulin fans, then I’m really happy to have a new kid on the block to try, and I don’t mind the price.

Available: The Green Welly Stop – £49.98

Sample taken from my own stocks… Lagavulin did promise me a sample, but it never materialized, sob.