Lagavulin 12 Year (2021 Special Release)

One of my favourites ever. Peaty and sweet nose, smooth and strong palate but just on the edge, and sweet smoky finish. Love this one

Briny lemon peat custard. Sea spray on a smoked pear tartlet. The palate is a little more ashy than the nose lets on, but also has more vanilla sweetness. This is such a satisfying pour right now, just really hits the spot. Thank you for the generous pour @PBMichiganWolverine - I may have to order myself bottle of this one, as I see there is still some available on the European whisky sites.

I recently managed to pick up a bottle of the Diageo 2021 Talisker 8. Excellent liquid that exceeded my expectations. I was a little sad that I wasn’t able to get my hands on the Lagavulin 12 though. I have heard nothing but excellent things about it. So, managing to get my hands on a 30 ml sample I was very excited to get to try this after all. N: Fresh, vibrant, aromatic, and whistle clean. There is no notion that 56.7% ABV lurks in the glass, I am breathing this in deeply with no burn. Beautifully balanced. baked lemon and briny salt-spray soaked old barrels. There is soft vanilla, a waxiness, and restrained, gentle, peaty-iodine. If no one has heard from me in a while after posting this review then don’t worry, for I have fallen face first into this whisky and drowned. It’s not my favourite nose ever, but it has me in its beguiling grasp anyway. I want more. (Pro tip: don’t ever wash out the empty glass. Charcoal embers and ash are just another element hiding away to discover.) P: An oil slick that sticks and clings to the palate, like an old salty sea captain tarring his decks. Preserved lemon is tart and bright, salt is that from a tray of oysters. Honeyed burnt ends right off the charcoals. Thick warming smoke with leather and pepper in its depths. Toffee cream rounds and softens, before a slightly drying wood or maybe its the smoke, perhaps its barrel char, dries things back slightly. There are endless layers here, I can barely keep up, and at this point I don’t want to. Let this wash me away, I am here for the ride. F: Medium and dry. Pepper, a gentle medicinal background, and the smoke from seawater splashing onto the beach side fire. Water is like a cheat code unlocking all the good stuff with no effort. The nose gains weight and fullness with more lemon upfront. The palate thickens gaining creamy depths with new sweetness and more vanilla. But the drying smoke and oily brine go nowhere. The finish lightens and slightly lengthens with a tiny sweetness. The layers upon layers upon layers of flavour and texture are incredible. How something this big can be equally delicate and precise is just a masterstroke. I am not an artist but I’m reminded of sitting in Les Salles Rouges in the Louvre many years ago. A little overwhelmed, I stood looking up at the enormous canvases. I particularly remember “The Coronation of Napoleon”. That painting is about 6 x 10 m. It is huge, dominating, and with so much depth and complexity you barely know where to look. Yet, when you do look there are details upon details upon yet more hidden details. At some point, you just have to stop, step back and just appreciate the grandeur. Take it all in. And be amazed. I have to say, I personally prefer the T8 counterpart from the 2021 special release series. But, I think this L12 is objectively better. I cannot nit pick a fault. I can’t say a negative thing about it. Ive come back to this review on the 22/09/2023 thanks to a sample from @cascode. I’ve removed my former “fault” of saying it doesn’t capture my imagination. It absolutely does as I have been taken back to Les Sallee Rouges and the sheer impressiveness of this liquid deserves the full 5 stars. 
[Islay is all about peat. I was going to picture this pour with a lump of peat rich lignite. But that felt cheap and easy. Instead, this whisky on the rocks is brought to you by a fossiliferous sandstone from the Carboniferous (~320-300 Ma) of Fife nr. Edingburgh, Scotland. The fossils here are of the leaves from a Sigilaria lycopod, keeping a tenuous peat theme going!] Distiller whisky taste #104

The nose is bold and rich starting with grilled octopus with a squeeze of lemon juice and dash of sea salt then freshly paved asphalt, light diesel and chamomile tea followed by caramelized pears, dehydrated apricots and grilled pineapple that transitions to gauze bandages and popsicle sticks with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium to rich mouthfeel starting with grilled octopus with a squeeze of lemon juice and dash of sea salt then a mild pepper spice that slowly fades to freshly paved asphalt, light diesel, honeysuckle and chamomile tea followed by caramelized pears, dehydrated apricots and grilled pineapple that transitions to gauze bandages and popsicle sticks with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with tangy barbecued short ribs, gooseberries, black pepper, gauze bandages and popsicle sticks. This is a big meaty dram that starts with grilled seafood that the richness is cut with sweet and sour citrus and mild salt along with earthy minerality, diesel and mild floral notes that all work in balance to create a beautifully composed whisky that drinks far lower than its proof. Thanks so much @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this one.

We (as in @pkingmartin , @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington , @Richard-ModernDrinking and @ctbeck11 ) had our quarterly online tasting. This was one of the spectacular pours of the evening. The other four were 1) Bardstown Chateau Laubade batch 1 2) Craigellechie 13 Armagnac finished , 3) Barrell 20yr Seagrass, and 4) 15yr Jacob’s Well. This was one of my contributions for the tasting. Just looking back at my previous Diageo special releases for Lagavulin, I noticed I gave an earlier version high marks as well ( 2017 I think), which was also a refill oak cask. I always feel as if Lagavulin really shines in a refill oak cask. It truly allows the spirit essence to come through with minimal cask influences. And a cask strength version allows more horsepower to the aromas. This is all sea air, brine, and minerals. We saved this one for last, and thankfully so. The brine and smoke would’ve corrupted the other tastings. Nose is sea spray, wet stones, smoked herring. Taste is briny, citrus, smoke, seaweed, herbs like thyme and tarragon. For about $150, it’s a pricey 12 yr old. But I felt as if it’s better than the standard Lag 16, and best of the Lag 12 annual releases so far.

Notes of apple and sweetness, plenty of smoke in Lagavulin fashion, but very smooth

Color: (Very) Pale straw. Nose: Oiled machinery dotted with cinders, next to rubber boots soaked in a brackish tidal pool. Palate: Barbecued pork falling off the bone. Honey over embers and rich, malty cereal grain. Finish: A little pepper, a hint of vanilla, and a total saltwater bath. Diluted: Citrus creeps into the nose -- lemon rind and maybe some pear. Real banana sweetness develops on the palate, along with sugar over porridge. Finish is a delicious mix of bacon fat and smoked apples.

A nice dram, certainly with hints of some dried fruit. Quite earthy in the nose. Personally I have not been convinced as the smokiness is really subtle (especially compared to the 2020 special release).