Lagavulin 9 Year (Game of Thrones-House Lannister)

N: Intense, Lag campfire. But there is subtlety in it with lots of fruit drying in the smoke: lemon, pear, green apple, and maybe some pineapple slices. A swirl tosses off caramel and vanilla. And the peat - it's gentler than the 16 with an herbal tea character with a side of wet moss. The notes don't really break down beyond that though - there's no panoply of industrial chemical smells here - just smoke and peat. It also feels less perfume-y than the 16. P: Sweet lemon cake, custard, vanilla frosting, and then fire at the back of the throat - this one moves fast. Salty. Cinnamon that starts out lacking any heat and then brings the heat as it moves into the finish. I'm getting ahead of myself - there's a tannic bitterness and some accompanying charred wood early to mid palate. Vanilla, caramel, and toffee weave in and out. Little bit of coffee, a bitter dark roast, floats in and out. Finish is fast and hard - hot cinnamon pushing toward overwhelming with a subtle dusting of powdered chocolate adding just enough contrast. And it all ends pretty quick. Smoke is in the background from start to finish. Don't get much on the peat side. This reminds me a bit of the Laphroaig 10, but without the medicinal or chemical notes. There's something about the profiles of each, excluding the Laph medicine cabinet, that just feels the same to me. And I think that's a compliment - especially for a dram that's basically a TV show marketing tool, even if made by Lagavulin. I guess the point is Lag took it seriously and has released a fine whisky here that slots nicely into the 8-10 year old Islay range. Don't go crazy looking for this, or pay crazy upcharges (I often see it locally at $100+ - don't do that), but if you spot a bottle at roughly $50-60, it's a solid buy.

I was rather impressed with this 9 year old, thinking that it was more of a gimmick edition first. Definitely a lot more robust than the 8 year and can be enjoyed neat on a summer’s day

Too petty and too young for me.