Lagavulin 12 Year (2016 Special Release)

N: Sea salt, ash, salted lemons. Vegetables soaking in sea water. Smoked vanilla, bread pudding cooked over charcoal. Fresh cut grass soaking in lemon juice. Earthy peat, also soaked in lemon juice. Light baking spice notes. P: Vanilla bean, toffee, caramel, malted milk balls. Lemon is there, but more subdued. Plenty of salt, like everything has been brined. Green vegetables coated in ash. Hot cayenne spice hits early and sticks through the mid-palate. Finish is less hot, but has plenty of baking spice and is more earthy with pine, dried peat, and dried mud. Salted caramel candy hits just before a final blast cayenne burns out whatever is left. Saw a dusty Lag box on a shelf and found this gem. 2016, 200th anniversary edition. Figured I'll probably never see this again, so I grabbed it. Saved it for a few more months and made it the first bottle opened in our new house back in May. Anyway, who cares, I guess. This was fun to have on the shelf, to share, to just look at, to drink alone. Not sure what value there is in trying to compare this, or assess VFM, or even really critique it much. All I'll say is if you've read this far, you probably love the Lag, and then if you happen to find this bottle, grab it. You won't be disappointed. As to the 12 year, cask strength Lagavulin idea, I'm a fan. This is not the polished, lovely dram that the 16 is, and I'd probably still prefer that, but this is interesting and makes a fine biannual splurge. I can't see any particular release of this ever being terrible, so I'd say pick one up if you see it and can make the spend. I'll certainly be looking for other years.

Smells like the lumber yard on a wet day, forest, soil, moss, musk and salt ... with water it’s vanilla, and a slight sweetness butter on the tongue with a short but Stoner peat finish

First the 2017 and then the 2018. Two titanic whiskies that stand out as all-time favorites. Because there were some noticeable (though fairly subtle) differences between the two, I pulled the trigger on this 2016 200th Anniversary edition. So let's see if Lag pulled a hat trick with the 12y.o. Nose: Where to start. On one hand we've got peat, campfire smoke, iodine, sea salt, seaweed, ocean spray/brine. Then there's lemon/grapefruit/lime citrus. Cilantro. Black pepper. Apple, pear, vanilla, and cream. Roasted pineapple. Mint. Plenty of heat, but no ethanol. It's peppery and offers some baking spice. A touch of unripe banana? A bit of oak. I really could go on all night. I'll keep it moving, but first say that this is as good a nose as I could ask for. Palate: In your face peat and campfire smoke. Iodine, and all the sea salt, seaweed, and brine notes from the nose. Salted caramel, vanilla, milk chocolate, mint chocolate, raspberry jam. Lemon and grapefruit citrus. Banana bread and malt. Apple and toffee. Loads of black pepper. Some chili on the mid-palate. Healthy dose of oak and baking spice. As was the case with it's successors, there are a variety of flavors that seemingly shouldn't coexist. And yet they do, and beautifully at that. Finish: Beast of a finish. Red pepper black bean chili. Smoked brisket. Appetizer and entree. Salted caramel and milk chocolate for dessert. Vanilla, grapefruit, lemon, and lime before you hit the road. Black pepper, sea salt. Cinnamon and baking spice. Oak spice. All of this amounts to a mile-long finish. 57.7% ABV in all its glory. Hat trick completed. If there are any left at the store I got this, I'll buy 'em up. If you've read my reviews of the 2017 and or 2018, you'll know my stance on Lag 12. Synopsis: Perfection at work. Perfectly embodies Islay spirit and Lagavulin character. How on Earth could a 12-y.o. annual release regularly double the price of its 16 y.o. older brother? Have a glass of this. You'll get it. 5/5. I say that with ease. I give 2016-18 straight A's. 2019 next? Can't find it. I'm incredibly disappointed that I haven't seen a single one. Diageo re-imagined the pristine solid green packaging with some frilly and modern-looking artwork. I'd notice it at a glimpse, yet I haven't seen a single 2019 in the wild--and we're well into 2020. I'll buy on sight. For now, the saga concludes here. And all I've got to say about this one is that it is every bit worthy of representing one the finest distilleries in the world on its 200th birthday. Right down to the last molecule.

Easy to compare to its 16 Yr sibling. This is the hellion child meant to be taken in small bits. Big, powerful and of course peaty. Savor at the end of a big day. Not ‘more’ enough to favor over the less costly 16 so won’t buy this again. The marketing got me once but won’t get me again.