islay_emissary
Lagavulin 16 Year (White Horse Distillers)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
April 26, 2018 (edited February 16, 2024)
I was very happy to buy this bottle from a private party recently. The label on this older Lagavulin 16 displays the “White Horse Distillers” designation making it at least 20 years old. The phrase was dropped as a result of the Diageo merger of 1997. Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible contends Lagavulin reduced the phenol level of their distillates years ago from 50ppm to 35ppm, and this became noticeable in the last decade. I have tended to agree; however, my visit to the distillery last fall yielded no such concession. This purchase was an attempt to confirm these opinions once and for all. The previous owner claimed the bottle had been lying on its side in a darkened wine bin for at least two decades and a high whisky level in the neck verified a good seal. Matching glencairns were used to compare its color against the current generation, and this produced identical results. With the naked eye, the slightest variation of amber gold could not be detected, providing good indication of great care being taken to insure consistency over time. Comparing the nose was also surprising as the differences were minimal and only confirmed after four different sittings. Perplexingly, the new Lagavulin was a slight degree smokier than its predecessor, displaying a measure of fresh smoked barley that was reminiscent of the Islay distillery tours. This seemed worn off with the White Horse offering and allowed elements of sweet sherry to shine through adding a layer of sophistication. Any differences in the palate were imperceptible and confirmed through several blind tastings. My conclusion: memories are sometimes better than reality! :)
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@Rick_M. I’ll probably just leave it as “valuable stuff...but drink before someone in my family mistakes it for a regular Lag 16”
@PBMichiganWolverine - if you only bought that bottle 10 years, then I question when the WHD designation disappeared. If you believe the UK auction houses, it was only on the bottles in 90’s.
@Rick_M more like 10. 20 years ago, I just graduated college. I’d say about 10. But I don’t recall paying a crazy price for it. I just never got around to opening it, b/c a Lag 16 is so commonly found everywhere. I’ve always just bought pours instead
@PBMichiganWolverine - is it possible you bought that bottle almost 20 years ago???
@LeeEvolved yeah. If @Rick_M ‘s post was a few months later, I’d have opened it already. Once the SDT is over, I was looking forward to having the basic Ardbeg 10, Lag 16, Talisker DE, and Springbank 10 again.
@PBMichiganWolverine - yeah, I doubt the flavor profile from the WHD era is worth risking over the increase in collectibility value.
@LeeEvolved in my defense...it really looks no different than an off-the-shelf 16. It’s not like it has a different color label, or a big white horse smack dab in the middle.
@LeeEvolved no, no...this wasn’t in storage. This was right in my closet—-with the intent of opening it up after our SDT, just to get back to some basic ones I’ve been craving. So much for that intent now.
@PBMichiganWolverine - man, your storage shed is just a big ole box full of cash, isn’t it?
@Rick_M so...the kicker is that all this time, until you posted this, what I thought was a regular Lagavulin 16 turned out to be a white horse. I had no idea. I just didn’t know. I never really got around to opening it, but now that I know...not so sure I want to...
@Rick_M wow...amazing research! I’m thoroughly impressed. So...I have it seems the 1989 one. I have the “white horse distillers” at the bottom, but no oval logo on left side of the box. It mentions Classic Malts on the back label with the oval at the center. The front label is no oval logo or mention of Classic Malts.
Additionally, the only person on earth that probably gives a shit about all that is me. :)
@PBMichiganWolverine - The following is my best guess at things since the distillery will tell you nothing if you try to write them. United Distillers/Guinness bought Lagavulin in 1986 when the White Horse Distillers designation was still appearing on Lagavulin labels. Lagavulin 16 was released and added to their Classic Malts line in 1989 with the White Horse Distillers still present on the label and bottom front of box. These were the earliest Lagavulin 16/White Horse Distillers. Early in the 1990’s an oval Classic Malts logo was added to the top-left side of box with WHD still appearing on bottom of box and label. Roughly, around 1995 that Classic Malts logo moved to the top-middle of box with the WHD still present on box and label. In 1997 United Distillers/Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo. My best guess is the White Horse Distillers designation was dropped circa 1998/1999 from the Lagavulin 16 label.
@Rick_M how can you tell what year the bottle is? I have a 16 yr old that has “white horse distillery” on label, but not vintage
@PBMichiganWolverine - my response to you last night was after 13 hours of partying. Now that things are once again perfectly clear, I realize that Lagavulin 16 didn’t appear until 1989. Were you trolling me for a sample of the White Horse? Because for you it could be arranged. :) I might have to also figure out how to get a sample to Australia 🇦🇺
@cascode - your question is an excellent one. When I tried to remove the cork the head snapped off. I then took a corkscrew and gently turned it into the remaining piece of cork. When it penetrated the cork you could hear air getting sucked into the bottle, which I took as a very good sign. Just like a bottle of wine, if you keep the cork saturated, then air has little chance to enter the bottled and do its oxidation number on its contents. If the bottle sits upright, then the cork might dry and shrink allowing air to enter. This would not be a good situation for the whisky. As I tried to remove the remaining piece of cork it disintegrated, but I wasn’t the slightest bit displeased knowing the whisky’s integrity had been maintained through a good seal. The White Horse proved to be a very close version to the current. The whisky didn’t change much in 20 years, but I did. @cascode, you just have to accept the fact that you have been around for 7 decades and you are an old bastard like me. No one should listen to our babble because it’s out with the old and in with the new. :)
@PBMichiganWolverine - I’ve said this before in comments and I’ll say it again. The first time I tasted Lagavulin over 20 years ago I stated, “How the hell can anyone drink this stuff; it tastes like drinking straight iodine!” I’m convinced, the more you drink Islay whisky, the less noticeable the smokiness/medicinal/iodine characteristics become over time. I believe that your olfactory cells build up a tolerance to the phenols. This is why Jim Murray , @cascode, myself and others all believe they messed with the recipe, but they didn’t. If you open the bottle you will see it is almost identical to the latest iteration, maybe even a tad less smoky. It’s only the old bastards that believe it’s not as good as it used to be, when it’s really us that have lost the edge. :)
@Rick_M What was the state of the cork after having been on its side for 20 years. I'd have thought it would be in poor shape.
@Rick_M I have a White Horse from 1980...but from your review, sounds like really not too much a difference than a current 16?
Lagavulin 16 is king, once, now, and forever.
@Soba45 - I’m still not 100% sure, but the worker bees we spoke to at the distillery claimed no change to the recipe.
Ah interesting. Good research and review. Myth busted! :-)