Well well well, what do we have here. The newest Feis Isle festival release from Lagavulin. For 2018, they decided to release a special 18 year old version of their traditional, smoky malt. While I didn’t attend the event, I have a friend who had a friend that did- and he picked him up a bottle. Thanks to my buddy, @PBMichiganWolverine, I get to sample this beauty. Like I said, it’s 18 years old and bottled at cask strength (53.9%). It’s light gold in color and makes thin legs and tiny droplets in the tasting glass. It’s NCF’d and has no added color. Bottles were $200 at the distillery, but I see them selling at auction now for $400-500. The nose is typical Lagavulin smoke with a healthy dose of sherry sweetness. I get a heartier campfire nosing with hints of red berries filtering through the haze. Any trace of ABV heat or alcohol is overshadowed. It smells intoxicating. I’d theme the palate as “sweet & heat”. The sherry notes took center stage at first, but the deep, rich smoke aspects work their way around the sweetness and take over while leaving you with an oily, medium thick mouth coat. The depth of sherry flavors is incredible. I would assume these were first-fill casks because the flavor is so rich. There’s plenty of burn from the higher ABV, but you don’t really care because everything just feels perfect. The finish is long and warming and in a shocking turn of events: the sweetness lingers on long after the smoke has subsided. I don’t recall many (or any) other Lagavulin offerings accomplishing that. I’ve heard some of the older Distiller’s Editions pull it off but I’ve yet to try one that has to the extent this does. It’s truly a remarkable dram. Now, I doubt I’d chase a bottle of this at auction or on the secondary market at prices above $400, but I would’ve loved to have gotten my hands on them from the festival. Too bad I’m not a good traveler, I just have to settle for the generosity of good friends. If you have the means, pick this one up or try it at a good whisky bar. You won’t be disappointed one bit. 4.5-4.75 stars. Cheers, my friends.