Lagavulin 8 Year

From a beautiful olive bottle pours a bright, floral yellow. The nose is salty and meaty right away, with Lagavulin's signature smoked game feel being apparent. But it's also zesty, like unripe lemon, and has bold aromas of sourdough and seaweed. The palate is at first sweet and richly malty, and smoked honey comes right before the spicy burn. The malt's youth plays against the bold body that characterizes older Lagavulins; but this isn't that attention-hungry class clown—this is that cunning, malevolent youth that schoolteachers dread. But in this whisky, the youth is balanced by the rich body, and that beyond-reform pupil meets his match with the old-fashioned, stoic professor that reads Hume and Nietzsche. As the palate develops, I taste grilled stone fruit and sizzling fat. The finish burns and almost stings, numbing and intoxicating the whole mouth. The aftertaste is somewhere between char and dried wildflowers. This is truly an impeccable dram.

Nose reminds me of Uigedail. Pure meat seasoning. Ever had meat with too much seasoning and it burns your tongue? Very salty. As it sits in the glass I start to smell the alcohol, the youngness of the malt. Wood Cabinets. Laphroaig type of peat on the palate. Sweeter. Hotter than Laphroaig, but still smooth. Lemon like sourness. Biting into a lemon and pulling out the pulp. Peat Isnt overwhelming. Charcoal. Nuttiness in there somewhere. Almond syrup? Finish is nice as peat gives way to the sour lemon.

This was a nice, light, sweet dram. Consistent through the finish.

Lagavulin's take on the 200th anniversary release is in sharp contrast to Laphroaig. While the latter released an off-cycle 15 year variation, Lagavulin chose the opposite to its stalwart 16 year old. Here's your chance to taste their amazing whisky at half its usual age. Kudos to them for leaving the age statement on the bottle as this might be a deal breaker for most other scotches. The first thing I noticed is how light in color it is- this thing is American light beer light. The nose is still very Islay- peat smoke, medicinal and briny. A smile can't help but form on my face. It's very young and feisty on the tongue with so much oak it almost tastes like a first-fill, bourbon barrel highland malt. Then the smoke overtakes it and you are reminded this is Islay and Lagavulin we're drinking here. My smile broadens... The finish comes rather quickly and unfortunately it's shorter and drier than what a Lagavulin should be. That's the only short coming that I can find. It's a better 200th celebration than Laphroaig's 15 Year for sure. It's a big win for me. Ignore the price point, which is a bit high for such a young scotch, and enjoy this for what it is: another fantastic Lagavulin single malt. Invest in a bottle and celebrate 200 wonderful years. Cheers, my friends