N: Sea salt, ash, salted lemons. Vegetables soaking in sea water. Smoked vanilla, bread pudding cooked over charcoal. Fresh cut grass soaking in lemon juice. Earthy peat, also soaked in lemon juice. Light baking spice notes. P: Vanilla bean, toffee, caramel, malted milk balls. Lemon is there, but more subdued. Plenty of salt, like everything has been brined. Green vegetables coated in ash. Hot cayenne spice hits early and sticks through the mid-palate. Finish is less hot, but has plenty of baking spice and is more earthy with pine, dried peat, and dried mud. Salted caramel candy hits just before a final blast cayenne burns out whatever is left. Saw a dusty Lag box on a shelf and found this gem. 2016, 200th anniversary edition. Figured I'll probably never see this again, so I grabbed it. Saved it for a few more months and made it the first bottle opened in our new house back in May. Anyway, who cares, I guess. This was fun to have on the shelf, to share, to just look at, to drink alone. Not sure what value there is in trying to compare this, or assess VFM, or even really critique it much. All I'll say is if you've read this far, you probably love the Lag, and then if you happen to find this bottle, grab it. You won't be disappointed. As to the 12 year, cask strength Lagavulin idea, I'm a fan. This is not the polished, lovely dram that the 16 is, and I'd probably still prefer that, but this is interesting and makes a fine biannual splurge. I can't see any particular release of this ever being terrible, so I'd say pick one up if you see it and can make the spend. I'll certainly be looking for other years.