Tastes

Nose: Light peaty smoke and hint of sweetness in the glass. When rubbing some between my hands i get a clear scent of sesame seeds. Palate: The pleasant peat smoke is followed by oakiness and a floral sweetness. Finish: Similar to the palate with peat and oak. As a beginner to picking apart whiskys, this blend is a real delight.

This may not be a super helpful review if you're already deep into whisky territory but I think it could be helpful for those in my own league, who are just beginning their whisky journey. I'm really new to whiskey and Lagavulin 16 was the 3rd first whiskey I ever tasted. I've read that Islay is not a beginner whiskey for many reasons but the smoke made me interested. I bought a 200 ml bottle and was surprised! I can't pull out and distinguish different flavours in whiskey yet but one thing stands out in Lagavulin 16. The smoke! When I read about this whiskey being smoky I thought the smoke would be more ashy (like a fire), but that is not the case. My first thought was "I like this but it doesn't have any smoke at all!". After some time though I realised that it definitely had a lot of another type of smoke. The taste of really smoked meat. I didn't find it at first just because I was looking for another type of smoke. After I realized this I started liking it even more! Now the smoke is obviously not the only taste in this whiskey, but as I said earlier, I can't distinguish any more specific flavours as of now and need more references before I can say anything more about the taste. Maybe I'll return with a more nose and palate discriptic review when said palate is more experienced. All in all I like Lagavulin 16 a lot and will definitely by the larger bottle when this one is empty. I recommend it to anybody that is into smoked food.