The King Of Islay, Lagavulin. I am not the one telling you this, it is actually the slogan of this fancy fire lion bottle. This is the 12yo Special Diageo Release from 2021, bottled at 56.5%abv. The lion itself is the logo of this distillery and its spirit animal. The fire represents the passion in whisky making (i might just have invented that). On the nose, it is not that smokey. Gooseberries and salt. It is actually very maritime! Iodine, oysters, a wet wood from a port. Liquid paper, vanilla with salt; gunpowder. It is like a tar road. Seaweed, grapefruits and wet paint. After a first sip, it became like a horse saddle, and burnt sawdust. You know... the good stuff. On the palate, is this a Lagavulin? This is too sweet!. Vanilla cake, gooseberries. There is this bonfire rising. Wasabi and a pepper bomb. Salt water. After a first sip, it is like a vanilla water, sugar syrup and biscuits. Chocolate milk. Not your typical Lagavulin. Aftertaste is where the smoke lived. Smoke, leather and rubber. Charred oak. Nice, salty finish. It is like a salted chocolate. This was the best part of the dram. Overall, this did not felt like a Lagavulin. It felt more like a Talisker. Is that a bad thing? No. Is this a very good whisky? Yes. Having said that, i don't know if this is what you expect from a special release of this wonderful distillery, and in my books, this experiment might not be what i am looking for. It is a wonderful single malt, just not what i thought i was going to get. My honest score for this delicious single malt that has abandoned the Laga-Style is a 92 over a 100.