Lagavulin 8 Year

I expect this one to be a brighter version of the 16, though I don’t have the 16 to do a proper side-by-side assessment. Time to see how it stands on its own. The nose is bright and smokey. The peaty smoke is more savory smoked meat type of smoke than campfire. There is a brininess and some medicinal/iodine to it as well. Underneath all of that there is some sweet pear, crisp apple and vanilla. The palate is juicy, salty-sweet with smokey ash and smoked meat, malt, more iodine, vanilla, spicy ginger. The finish is long with fruity sweetness at first but mostly savory smoked meat, medicinal/iodine with slight latex gloves, vanilla and spicy ginger tingles the tongue on the sides and back for a while. Does not disappoint! I expected nothing less, actually it exceeded my expectations for the age. Smokey, savory and lightly fruity Islay goodness. Can’t wait to compare it to the 16 to see what 8 more years can do to Lagavulin.

drinking while staring at the ocean. maybe it's the salty air but this has transformed into something magical