LAGAVULIN 8YR - $50 APPEARANCE: I was expecting a very light color, but I wasn't expecting a pale straw that is roughly the same hue as Beam's "Jacob's Ghost". Bonus points for no added colorings! Clings to the sides of my Glencairn and takes forever to form tiny slow moving droplets. NOSE: Taking my time to get a rotation of the following... Grilled Pineapple. Fresh Cream. Freshly Baked Flaky Fruit Turnovers. Salt Cured Country Ham. Fireplace/Campfire Ash/The smell of your jacket the morning after you sat around a Bonfire the night before. Fresh Sea Air. Hints of Iodine & Bandages. NEAT: Mouthfeel is Fairly Thin, but Oily. First sip is all Ash with a Slightly Bitter Smoky Finish. 2ND Sip starts to reveal a little complexity... A Light Malty/Fruit Sweetness that persists throughout but is dominated by: Smoked Meat, Capers, Olives, and Salted Fish. Nicely counterbalanced by that Light but Persistent Sweetness. There is a Black Pepper Tingle, but not nearly as much as you would expect for 96proof. Finish is Slightly Bitter & Medicinal and Medium to Long in length with a nice blooming heat in the chest. Has a Coating Ash/Menthol/Medicinal Aftertaste that hangs around long after the Dram is done. SPLASH: A few drops of water and the Nose gets a little Citrusy Zing. The Grilled Pineapple from the Nose makes its way to the Palate. VERDICT: At first I was a little disappointed in this, but finally decided it was more a result of how good the 16 is than any flaws the 8 may have. Lagavulin (in my area, anyway) has somehow found a way to return to pre-tariff pricing and for $50 (appropriately exactly half of what the 16 goes for), this is now almost $20 less than Lap10 ($68). While I prefer the Lap10, this will do until (if?) Laphroaig returns to pre-tariff pricing. The catch is, NC doesn't carry this one so I will have to grab a bottle when I travel through VA. It is between a 3.75 and 4 for me, but I'll round up based on VFM.