Jose-Massu-Espinel
Lagavulin 12yo Straight From The Cask, Single Second Fill European oak Barrel
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
July 9, 2022 (edited July 31, 2022)
I have arrived to the most holy land of whisky... i have stepped over the most important piece of land in the isle of Islay, the one and only LAGAVULIN DISTILLERY.
Arguably the King of Islay, (let the internet backlash begin in the comments), Lagavulin was my first love for peaty whiskies and their 16yo expression has become indestructible against any critics. I have had a lot of "Lagas" in the past years, but now i am here for the ultimate experience. Drawn from 4 incredible casks, i am about to taste some incredible Lagavulins. Did i tell you that the Mythical Ian McArthur is the one pouring the whiskies? (He draws them from the cask using his mouth, i believe this enhances the experience, lol).
My first Warehouse tasting was this 12yo, Straight from the Cask, a single second filled european oak barrel, served at 51%abv.
On the nose, it is quite sweet! Brownies, chocolate, vanilla, hay. Less complex that other Lagavulins but very sweet. Lots of chocolate notes. Malted barley.
On the palate, deliciously sweet. Chocolate milk, dim nice pepper. Super elegant vanilla and earthy notes. Gooseberries.
Aftertaste is where the peat was hiding: Smoke, tar, and all the bautiful stuff from Lagavulin, herbal, bonfire.
Overall, this was an enormous dram to start the tour. I loved the sweet twist that this whisky has, it confabulates with the peatiness in a great way. My score for this beauty is 92 over 100.
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@LouisianaLonghorn I’d be fine if they just drop me off with the Russel’s at wild Turkey for a bit - for now I’ll have to look for some transatlantic conference to negligently “attend” and leave the kids at home
@PBMichiganWolverine 🙃 we can only hope that they’ll share our interests and our livers hold out that long.
@LouisianaLonghorn @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington I’m wondering if our kids would take us to distilleries when they’re older, just like we took them so painstakingly to Disney, zoos, and birthday parties when they were kids ?
@LouisianaLonghorn
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington he’s right. I was in Scotland for a week not too long ago with the family. I drank a lot of great whisky, but it was mostly at pubs where you can get a 2 oz pour for £6-10. We only ended up visiting one distillery (Talisker) and that was a stretch for the family.
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington dude…doesn’t work. I can barely get the family to stop for a local distillery. Can’t imagine making a trip of it. What I found works is to choose the destination you want, and fit a distillery tour for an hour or so around other activities.
Amazing experience, thanks for sharing! It’s sounding like I need to make plans to being the family to Scotland for “some reasons”
@cascode hahahhaa such a great guy!
@Jose-Massu-Espinel 🤣🤣🤣 I can just see him doing that. On our tour he gave one woman HUGE pours, filling her mini glencairn to overflowing every time. She was flustered but her husband was delighted 😁
@Scott_E 😀😀😀😀
@cascode it was an incredible experience, and Ian pour Lagavulin to the bald head of a german guy that was doing the tour. it is something i will never forget
This really brings back memories! My wife and I went there in 2017 (neither of us had been to Islay before) and it was one of the highlights of that trip to Scotland. Ian has been hosting the Warehous Experience for ages now and he's a very amusing host, isn't he - and he gives generous pours, too! Did he get anyone in your tasting group to try to use the valinch? It's harder than it looks, you need good lungs and experience! What is the next distillery on your agenda?
Sounds fantastic all around. Soak it in: figuratively and literally.