Lagavulin 12 Year (2015 Special Release)

Well, for this year's Burns Night celebration I've decided to pop open the 2015 Lagavulin 12 year old cask strength and do a comparison with the 2016 version. Up first is the 2015: it's 113.6 proof and is non-chill filtered. It's a light straw color in the Glencairn glass and produces tons of long, supermodel-like legs when you give it a spin. There's a zesty lemon zing along with the typical Lagavulin smoke wafting up from the taster. A slight aroma of orchard fruits is hidden underneath the smoke but you really have to put your nose as far down in the glass as you can to catch it. Excellent. On the palate, it's Lagavulin in all it's Islay glory: charred oak, savory peat smoke, cinnamon and black pepper spice. The big ABV is all up in your face, as well. It's a serious bonfire still smoldering well into the finish. Speaking of finish, there's a nice earthy pine and menthol that's a great precursor to one final blast of campfire smoke. It's a long, warm finish that really satisfies. Amazing dram, as usual. This is Lagavulin at its best. All the sea and smoke with a fantastic kick from the cask. My favorite Lagavulin to date. Happy Burns Night 2017, my friends. Cheers.

Lee's summed all the tasting notes up nicely so I have little to add on that front. Do I like it, yes it's a great whiskey. Definitely 4 for taste. The issue I have is two fold. The price is astronomical - $125USD and it's older much cheaper (nearly half the price) brother just walks all over it for value. I tried the 16 year straight after and despite its being a wopping 13.8% less ABV it more than held its own with a richness and complexity that dwarfed the 12. Yes they are different beasts but would I buy a bottle of the 12? No unless they cut the price in half. Factoring in value I can't give it more than a 3.5. Like its older brother I'll round up as I can't quite give it a 3..but I just think the pricing is getting a bit ridiculous these days. Interestingly for a cask strength I think I preferred it without a few drops of water. It didn't really need it to open it up at all.

It's irresistible to compare this to Lagavulin's flagship 16 year offering; however, rather than a younger sibling, this is more akin to a cousin. Yes, it features the smokiness of the 16, but it lacks the incredible richness, some of which is made up for with the cask strength bottling. Don't get me wrong...it's still a very fine whisky, but those four years impart a lot of maturity and refinement. Unless you have money to blow, why pay $50 more than the 16 costs, when it's darn near perfection? Well, I didn't...I'll happily accept this birthday gift. If you really like this whisky, but want to spend half as much, I'd recommend trying the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, which lacks a lot of the more astringent aspects of Laphroaig but is otherwise quite similar to the Lagavulin 12.

I had this at Hooverville Bar, it was delicious. Hot to start but just a couple drops of water really opened it up and brought out a light peat and caramel. I absolutely recommend it.

perfection in a bottle

Incredibly Smokey