Lagavulin Offerman Edition Guinness Cask Finish

“Maybe a drink will help—put some alcohol in your mouth to block the words from coming out.” - Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) Nice bottle, nose reminds me of Distillers Edition but with more chocolate, toffee and peat. More bitter than the 16Y but not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

Surprisingly not so smoky Nose: Smoke, Strawberries, Milk Chocolate, Iodine, Eucyptalus, Salted Caramel, Espresso, Raisins Palate: Smoke, Dark Chocolate, Strawberries, Espresso, Cherries, Apricots, Peaches, Papayas Finish: Smoke, Raspberries, Cherries, Honey, Oranges, Vanilla, Mocha

It's weird but it's gotten so I only know lagavulin as a CS distillate. From the 12 to the never ending UK only distillery bottles I am lucky enough to try over at Mike's, I'm almost confused with the existence of 46% whisky from them. Nose - Meaty smoky lagavulin with peach and then...I swear it's like an amber beer coming in. Not a Guinness at all to me. The smoke and sweet notes are really coming out of the glass up front but as you dig in, it's really thin behind that. The malt seems really watered down. Taste - Upfront it's just more smoke and peat with some youthful phenolic elements, a bit of bannana, a bit of off the still notes, and then this really sweet and noticeable beer element. It's a big bold and young islay and that's cool, but then we get to the finish. The finish is surprisingly long, surprisingly intense and really leaves you with a great overall lagavulin experience. The last edition really did come off a bit too young imo and I think this bit of a finishing cask has really helped add some elements that both distract and also complement the youth. On top of that, I think they just had better barrels this go round. If you want a big meaty in your face but youthful lagavlin for about 100 bucks, you can't really go too wrong. Nothing special but 2.5 stars, better than I expected and then some.

Excellent! Has all the peaty meatiness of the first edition with a hint of the stout beer mid sip. Love this!!!

Ocean vegetation. Just brilliant.

The beer finish is definitely present. Love the peat smoke.

It's delicious because it's Lagavulin but there's nothing that really makes it stand out as different. There is a slight creamy, milk chocolate bitterness that is present, especially on the exhale. The Lag meatiness and kipper is way subdued. The smoke is there but it's much more mellow. Essentially, everything is mellowed and that's ok. It's not hot for an 11 and the best part is the finish.