dhsilv2
Lagavulin 12 Year (2019 Special Release)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
September 21, 2020 (edited March 20, 2021)
What in god's name?
Nose - alcohol is heavy here. You get traditional lag sweetness, but really it's that sweetness and alcohol. Something is already going off in my head "what's wrong". No depth no oak, no richness, and it's just thin while alcohol driven.
Taste - yep Houston we have a problem. Sour, bitter, alcohol driven. The finish starts back into some quality lag malt character. The oak on this is just terrible. it reminds me of what lag 8 (I hate) at CS. I don't need a higher alcohol expression of a bad whisky. So my fear is after months of the only lags I have drank have all been special limited releases and I've had nearly all of the releases over the last 5-6 years thanks to friends. So I poured the 2018 which I've always felt was a pretty traditional lag 12. OK, I HAVE become a bit more of a snob, but I get all kinds of quality in this 2018 bottling. There's better oak, sweetness is balancing, no sharp bitters, and it's just richer and fuller of flavors.
Back to the 19, there's a hint of menthol at the end, I am at least finding some complexity but it's so biting and alcohol driven. I'd never believe you if you blinded me and said this was a 12 year.
If this is the new standard for lag 12, they can keep it out of the US. 1.5 just a massive disappointment, but I must admit, I'm getting to where I just don't dig 12 years whisky like I used to.
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Eh, I'm pretty cool with the packaging and personal, I like consistency. But that's me.
@jonwilkinson7309 @PBMichiganWolverine Going for a theme is totally fair, but it would be nice to get a little bit more variation in the art (as @PBMichiganWolverine said, considering the pricing) and I wouldn't say no to a Lag with a fox on it ;) As you call out though, @jonwilkinson7309 , the juice is what matters most, so it's disappointing that they released something so sub-par as a limited edition.
@dhsilv2 @PBMichiganWolverine @ContemplativeFox. Starting with last year's special releases, Diageo has been going with a "Flora and Fauna" theme. I like most of the labels - they're different, and therefore seem appropriate for a special release. This bottle sounds like a big miss, however. That's disappointing, because I thoroughly enjoyed the 2018 version.
I think they just re-branded the lag 12, I'd expect this look for many years to come. It's actually pretty nice in person.
@ContemplativeFox i just noticed this year’s Diageo;s special releases...did they simply reuse the artwork from last year, with some minor tweaks? With these things priced the way they are, I would think using a different artwork can be within their budget
@dhsilv2 Yeah, I'm getting to the point where I don't enjoy most 12 YO whisky as much anymore either. Still, Islay is usually a big exception to that statement. This Lag sounds like a huge screw up.
@PBMichiganWolverine Totally agree. I'm kind of surprised that any Lag can be neither rich nor deep.
Wow—-I’ve not had this, but I’d have expected (or hoped) for better out of a $100 Lag