ctbeck11
Lagavulin 2002 Distillers Edition (Bottled 2018)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
August 17, 2021 (edited September 27, 2021)
Nose - apricot, peach, fig, plum, musty grape, bread pudding, sweet peat, vanilla, toffee, blueberry, iodine, ash, brine, leather, sweet tobacco, nutmeg, clove, lemon, flint, mild to moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - grilled peach, apricot, juicy pear, sour apple, sweet peat, salted caramel, vanilla, miso, cinnamon, ash, nutmeg, clove, brine, leather, dark chocolate, cola, orange zest, lemon, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with grilled fruit, sweet peat, dark chocolate, and baking spice flavors.
Another day, another Lagavulin. Life could be worse. I requested this sample primarily to compare the 2018 version against the 2019 bottle I own. Secondarily, I love peat and sherry combinations, so this gives me another excuse to taste one. The nose is really nice, as I knew it would be. The smoky peat is softer than on the 16 year, allowing juicy, grilled fruits, musty grape, and bread pudding aromas to surface. The palate is solid, but it’s a step down from the nose. Interestingly, it tastes underproofed, which I don’t remember being the case with the 2019 version. Still, there are some nice sherried fruit notes, alongside ashy smoke, dark chocolate, and citrus flavors.
Now for the fun part. How does this stack up against the 2019 Distiller’s Edition? They smell very similar, although the 2018 is slightly gentler. The 2019 seems to retain more of the prickliness of its initial form. The same holds for the palate. It’s an almost imperceptible difference, but for a bit more oomph through the mid palate and into the finish. And sadly, they both veer into sour territory on the finish.
This is a good example of how your palate changes over time with more experiences. At one point, the 2019 Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition was my absolute favorite dram. Unfortunately, it’s not even close anymore. This is still great whiskey, but it’s no longer outstanding to me. Accordingly, I’ll be dropping my previous score for the 2019 to align with this one. A big thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for providing the generous sample that enabled this comparison.
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@cascode Great insights!! And more reasons why the whiskey journey never gets boring.
@jonwilkinson7309 Palate change is a real thing for sure, but profile drift is just as real. At the start of the journey it is all subjective but as the palate develops you gain objectivity based on experience. As a rule of thumb, whenever I'm uncertain whether a whisky has changed or not I assume that it is probably much the same and it is just my taste that has evolved, or else I’m being influenced by what I last ate or drank etc. On the other hand, sometimes an expression seems *radically* different to the last time I tried it and on those occasions I feel confident that it is actually the whisky that is different, not me.
I concur.......
@jonwilkinson7309 I always wonder about that too. it's cool when someone does a side by side with fresh bottles like when @PBMichiganWolverine did his modern Lag vs decades old Lag
@jonwilkinson7309 Thank you! And absolutely. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether I’m changing, newer versions of the same spirit are different, or whether oxidation is having a large impact on open bottles. I suspect all are factors in varying proportions. It keeps things interesting, I suppose.
Great review, and very interesting to hear the comparison. I rarely get the chance to taste the same whisky from different years. But I frequently wonder...I've seen people say things like, "this was a better whisky three years ago". But did the whisky change, or did their palate change? The further we go in our spirits journey, the more refined our palates become, and the more we able to truly appreciate the nuances, good or bad.