Lagavulin 16 Year Fèis Ìle 2017

Live dispatches from Feis Ile 2018. We tried this dram at Islay House Hotel on the first night — lovely hotel and friendly, spectacular staff. This dram was the first we tried, and enjoyable, but a tiny bit of a letdown in its similarity in flavor and finish to the standard 16. The nose is brinier and more acidic, recalling tart fruits like lemon that I more often associate with Ardbeg. This is a quality dram, but it also costs 3 times the price of the 16, which is the best value in scotch.

By far, the highlight of our recent trip to western Scotland was the isle of Islay and warehouse tour at Lagavulin. Arriving by ferry at Port Askaig in the north, and a stone’s throw from the Caol Ila distillery, we took the route less traveled on the island’s interior and headed south toward Port Ellen. The road was only wide enough for a single vehicle, but this lent itself to the mostly flat yet spectacular, rust-colored landscape. Our scenic drive featured numerous crossings of both pheasant and sheep - seeming oblivious to our intrusions - and highland cattle roamed the farmlands unfettered. The island’s only golf course, Machrie Links, was also breathtaking with rolling hills of green and ocean view backdrops. It is newly built around the old course and the fairways walked like the plush carpets of the world‘s best. With a new course hotel scheduled, Machrie Links will become an attractive destination for whisky-loving golfers everywhere. Lagavulin is located east of Port Ellen on the island’s southern tip and along the same road as Laphroaig and Ardbeg. The main distillery was closed for yearly maintenance, so we signed up for a warehouse tour not knowing what to expect. The event was hosted by Lagavulin's famed employee of 47 years, Ian McArthur, and held in one of their venerable storehouses amongst the world famous whiskies. The sampling featured 5 cask strength expressions ranging from 5 years to 35 years, and matured “exclusively” in ex-sherry barrels. These whiskies are only available at the distillery, and were hand selected by Ian specifically for the warehouse tours. Ian has also made the cask selections for several of the yearly Fèis Ìle releases. The tour expressions included a 5yo-61.6%, 13yo-52.1%, 19yo-52.4%, 24yo-49.8%, and 35yo-53.5%. Ian proved to be quite the showman and well known for his antics. A few visitors made the mistake of wearing apparel labeled from competing distilleries and Ian treated them to one of his trademark whisky head-scrubs. With valinch in hand, Ian moved from one glorious cask to the next drawing enough liquid to supply the glasses of 30 or so in attendance. He also left enough time to reapply his torture to those mentioned, and this was done to the howling and laughter of a well plied audience. After the show and a few photos, everyone scrambled back to the distillery shop to gobble up the 2017 Fèis Ìle offering (distillery exclusive). The festivities did well to loosen the grips on the visitor’s wallets. I managed to scrounge a sample prior to purchase of #4496/6000 and my luggage stowaway somehow survived the journey back to the States. Cask strength and bottled at 56.1 ABV, this 16yo double-matured whisky was finished in Moscatel wine casks rumored to have been previously used by Caol Ila. Despite cloudy sensibilities, I had a “Wow!” moment and this expression struck me as significantly better than those sampled on the tour. The higher proof did little to suppress an elegant nose that was mixed with the briny and savory smoke we have all come to know and love as Lagavulin. The first sip was incredibly smooth and satisfying, but, unfortunately, this is about all I remember other than its color that appeared natural and several degrees lighter than its 16yo brothers. Some day I will surely complete this review, but, for now, I still give this whisky a total-experience rating of 5 stars! Many thanks to a lovable Ian McArthur for his years of service and fond memories we will never forget. :)