islay_emissary
Lagavulin 16 Year Fèis Ìle 2017
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
November 13, 2017 (edited October 10, 2022)
By far, the highlight of our recent trip to western Scotland was the isle of Islay and warehouse tour at Lagavulin. Arriving by ferry at Port Askaig in the north, and a stone’s throw from the Caol Ila distillery, we took the route less traveled on the island’s interior and headed south toward Port Ellen. The road was only wide enough for a single vehicle, but this lent itself to the mostly flat yet spectacular, rust-colored landscape. Our scenic drive featured numerous crossings of both pheasant and sheep - seeming oblivious to our intrusions - and highland cattle roamed the farmlands unfettered. The island’s only golf course, Machrie Links, was also breathtaking with rolling hills of green and ocean view backdrops. It is newly built around the old course and the fairways walked like the plush carpets of the world‘s best. With a new course hotel scheduled, Machrie Links will become an attractive destination for whisky-loving golfers everywhere. Lagavulin is located east of Port Ellen on the island’s southern tip and along the same road as Laphroaig and Ardbeg. The main distillery was closed for yearly maintenance, so we signed up for a warehouse tour not knowing what to expect. The event was hosted by Lagavulin's famed employee of 47 years, Ian McArthur, and held in one of their venerable storehouses amongst the world famous whiskies. The sampling featured 5 cask strength expressions ranging from 5 years to 35 years, and matured “exclusively” in ex-sherry barrels. These whiskies are only available at the distillery, and were hand selected by Ian specifically for the warehouse tours. Ian has also made the cask selections for several of the yearly Fèis Ìle releases. The tour expressions included a 5yo-61.6%, 13yo-52.1%, 19yo-52.4%, 24yo-49.8%, and 35yo-53.5%. Ian proved to be quite the showman and well known for his antics. A few visitors made the mistake of wearing apparel labeled from competing distilleries and Ian treated them to one of his trademark whisky head-scrubs. With valinch in hand, Ian moved from one glorious cask to the next drawing enough liquid to supply the glasses of 30 or so in attendance. He also left enough time to reapply his torture to those mentioned, and this was done to the howling and laughter of a well plied audience. After the show and a few photos, everyone scrambled back to the distillery shop to gobble up the 2017 Fèis Ìle offering (distillery exclusive). The festivities did well to loosen the grips on the visitor’s wallets. I managed to scrounge a sample prior to purchase of #4496/6000 and my luggage stowaway somehow survived the journey back to the States. Cask strength and bottled at 56.1 ABV, this 16yo double-matured whisky was finished in Moscatel wine casks rumored to have been previously used by Caol Ila. Despite cloudy sensibilities, I had a “Wow!” moment and this expression struck me as significantly better than those sampled on the tour. The higher proof did little to suppress an elegant nose that was mixed with the briny and savory smoke we have all come to know and love as Lagavulin. The first sip was incredibly smooth and satisfying, but, unfortunately, this is about all I remember other than its color that appeared natural and several degrees lighter than its 16yo brothers. Some day I will surely complete this review, but, for now, I still give this whisky a total-experience rating of 5 stars! Many thanks to a lovable Ian McArthur for his years of service and fond memories we will never forget. :)
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
JM&J that's a solid session! I can't wait to do a pilgrimage to the holy land. I'm sure by the time I get there the doctors will have certified my liver written off sadly..
Fantastic review, great story!
@cascode, the 24yo would probably have been the closest to the 200th anny, 25yo I have stashed away, also a sherry exclusive. Unfortunately, I was doing double-duty and drinking most of our driver's samples as well. Too much whisky in too little time. :)
Great review, Rick. We did the Warehous Experience too, and this brought it all back again. Our favourite was the 24 year old cask.
Correction: 6 of the 7 courses.
You can get on 5 of the 6 courses at St. Andrews. The historic Old Course requires you to enter a lottery a year in advance or 2 days in advance if you’re in the area. We put in for next August and missed out recently.
Good to know, Rick. I looked up St. Andrews about a year ago and i thought it said carts were available only for handicapped guests. I don’t know why I was also only fixated on the upper echelon of courses, either. But, like they say, if you’re going to be a bear- be a grizzly lol. I’m sure the old course at St Andrew would make me look like a fool out there, but damn if that’s the place at the top of my list of places to play before I depart this earth. I did notice there was a course on Islay but either I didn’t research it well or the web info on it was sketchy because I don’t recall seeing anything about golf carts. Hmmm, going to visit Dad this weekend so maybe I need to download some golf and hotel info... Thanks for the heads up, sir.
Hi Lee, good news for your father. Machrie Links does have a handful of carts for older gents and handicapped players. In fact, almost all the well known courses do the same. You would need to reserve in advance and make sure of availability. The best part of golfing some of the top courses in the world in Britain and Ireland is the fact they welcome tourists to supplement their revenue, whereas here in the States it is next to impossible to get on most of the top courses without connections. Furthermore, few courses in the States can match the raw beauty of these links courses along the ocean. If you do decide to book a trip to that area, Machrihanish, and Machrihanish Dunes in the Campbeltown area also both have carts and are accessible to tourist. Both great courses near Springbank, Glen Scotia, and Glengyle. Pranay, it’s never too late to take up golf. I didn’t start playing in earnest until I retired. Paul, yes it was! :)
What a great review! I continue to harass my father every time I talk with him about trying to nail down this trip before he’s too old to make it a possibility. The biggest setback is the fact that almost all of the famous golf courses require you to walk the round- they don’t really allow or use golf carts. My dad, turning 69 next week, doesn’t think he could handle that and I agree that would make it impossible on him. I need to do more investigating and see if there are any courses that provide carts for older guests. That could be the one thing that convinced him. The distillery tours is the easy part- I converted him to scotch a year or so ago, lol. I’m going to get over there one day. I’d just love it to be with my dad as his love for the game ignited mine.
Sounds like magical experience
Great review!!! I need to put Scotland on my must-visit spot. On a related [email protected]'d be golden there, with the golf-whisky combo