Lagavulin 12 Year (2021 Special Release)

I recently managed to pick up a bottle of the Diageo 2021 Talisker 8. Excellent liquid that exceeded my expectations. I was a little sad that I wasn’t able to get my hands on the Lagavulin 12 though. I have heard nothing but excellent things about it. So, managing to get my hands on a 30 ml sample I was very excited to get to try this after all. N: Fresh, vibrant, aromatic, and whistle clean. There is no notion that 56.7% ABV lurks in the glass, I am breathing this in deeply with no burn. Beautifully balanced. baked lemon and briny salt-spray soaked old barrels. There is soft vanilla, a waxiness, and restrained, gentle, peaty-iodine. If no one has heard from me in a while after posting this review then don’t worry, for I have fallen face first into this whisky and drowned. It’s not my favourite nose ever, but it has me in its beguiling grasp anyway. I want more. (Pro tip: don’t ever wash out the empty glass. Charcoal embers and ash are just another element hiding away to discover.) P: An oil slick that sticks and clings to the palate, like an old salty sea captain tarring his decks. Preserved lemon is tart and bright, salt is that from a tray of oysters. Honeyed burnt ends right off the charcoals. Thick warming smoke with leather and pepper in its depths. Toffee cream rounds and softens, before a slightly drying wood or maybe its the smoke, perhaps its barrel char, dries things back slightly. There are endless layers here, I can barely keep up, and at this point I don’t want to. Let this wash me away, I am here for the ride. F: Medium and dry. Pepper, a gentle medicinal background, and the smoke from seawater splashing onto the beach side fire. Water is like a cheat code unlocking all the good stuff with no effort. The nose gains weight and fullness with more lemon upfront. The palate thickens gaining creamy depths with new sweetness and more vanilla. But the drying smoke and oily brine go nowhere. The finish lightens and slightly lengthens with a tiny sweetness. The layers upon layers upon layers of flavour and texture are incredible. How something this big can be equally delicate and precise is just a masterstroke. I am not an artist but I’m reminded of sitting in Les Salles Rouges in the Louvre many years ago. A little overwhelmed, I stood looking up at the enormous canvases. I particularly remember “The Coronation of Napoleon”. That painting is about 6 x 10 m. It is huge, dominating, and with so much depth and complexity you barely know where to look. Yet, when you do look there are details upon details upon yet more hidden details. At some point, you just have to stop, step back and just appreciate the grandeur. Take it all in. And be amazed. I have to say, I personally prefer the T8 counterpart from the 2021 special release series. But, I think this L12 is objectively better. I cannot nit pick a fault. I can’t say a negative thing about it. Ive come back to this review on the 22/09/2023 thanks to a sample from @cascode. I’ve removed my former “fault” of saying it doesn’t capture my imagination. It absolutely does as I have been taken back to Les Sallee Rouges and the sheer impressiveness of this liquid deserves the full 5 stars. 
[Islay is all about peat. I was going to picture this pour with a lump of peat rich lignite. But that felt cheap and easy. Instead, this whisky on the rocks is brought to you by a fossiliferous sandstone from the Carboniferous (~320-300 Ma) of Fife nr. Edingburgh, Scotland. The fossils here are of the leaves from a Sigilaria lycopod, keeping a tenuous peat theme going!] Distiller whisky taste #104

Lagavulin 12 is BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After having the 2019 lagavulin 12, I was legit concerned that lagvulin has simply lost their way. It's now been nearly a decade since their last epic release (the 25 year from 2015) and it's been a rough few years for the brand. So i'm here to gleefully tell you all, lagavulin is BACK! Nose - OMG...it's lagavulin 12! Sea salt, slightly almost fishy oysters, that rich powerful classic lagavulin malt, fresh fruits, oils and wax, huge peat as only lag can do, vanilla, smoke, and yes a touch of youthful still malt still is barley here. Taste - Huge lagavulin malt, biting bitter levels of peat, alcohol, touches of oak, huge vanilla, huge smoke fire, clean, aristocratic levels of peat....everything you want in a damn laga 12! Lag 12 is not a whisky imo that the tasting notes or nosing notes really explains. It's a HUGE whisky. It's giant, it's bold, and it's truly amazing as an experience as much as it is a taste experience. This is almost a sensory experience. And this does it better than ANY lag 12 I have had. I actually even compared this one to the 17 and 18 releases and while great, this blew them away. So what's wrong with this whisky? Well, it's still a 12 year that's aged in refilled bourbon casks. You can still tell that and that brings some light sour notes, some of that as I like to call it sour lacose/milk, but it's so subtle here that it's like a nuance vs a flaw. It's a bit more salty than I'd maybe ideally want? But lets do the real test, lets water it down to hell! So I'm now looking at a roughly 50% water mix. Upfront yes that youthful still note is there. God, the finish is still nice lol. It's boring now but I can't detect any real missed flaws either. Wow, normally these younger expressions with this much water start to really show some tannic or acidic or just off elements. Nothing here. OK so score? You ready? 3.75 and I'm debating 4 stars. Buy 2 guys!

“Diageo Special Releases 2021” tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 22 June 2022. Whisky #7 Nose: Maritime peat reek on a gathering breeze, asphalt, tar, carnauba wax, creosote, iodine, vanilla, lapsang souchong tea (hooray!), grilled lobster with a squeeze of lemon. The addition of water increases the citrus aromas and makes the nose larger. Palate: Exceptional arrival. Sweet smoky lemons drizzled with creosote and honey-pepper pork ribs on the barbecue. Briney malt, shellfish, oysters, asphalt, saltwater toffee and a faint medicinal note in the development. Leathery and with oak hints in the later palate. Water expands the palate into a vanilla sweetness and brings out a fruity presence. The texture is uniquely Lagavulin - creamy, oily yet dry. Finish: Medium/long. Medicinal smoke, pepper, citrus and salt. The finish is initially dry but the long aftertaste turns delightfully sweet. This is the best expression of Lagavulin I have tasted for at least a decade. In more than one respect it reminds me of Lagavulin 16 from 20 years ago. If it was given another 4 years (but in sherry casks) and proofed down I have no doubt it would be very similar indeed. Now please, Diageo, go and do exactly that. The integration is astonishingly harmonious and it repays careful and extended attention. This is a big, elegant whisky that hides its complexity and while the immediately obvious aromas and flavours will wow you, its hidden depths will captivate you and earn your respect. There is no alcohol heat whatsoever and for all its immense presence it is light of touch and meticulously balanced. This whisky is a perfect katana. It was voted the best whisky of the night by roughly half the participants at the tasting. Bottles were not available on the night but could be pre-ordered. I have 1 coming. Highest Recommendation. “Outstanding” : 90/100 (5 stars)

The King Of Islay, Lagavulin. I am not the one telling you this, it is actually the slogan of this fancy fire lion bottle. This is the 12yo Special Diageo Release from 2021, bottled at 56.5%abv. The lion itself is the logo of this distillery and its spirit animal. The fire represents the passion in whisky making (i might just have invented that). On the nose, it is not that smokey. Gooseberries and salt. It is actually very maritime! Iodine, oysters, a wet wood from a port. Liquid paper, vanilla with salt; gunpowder. It is like a tar road. Seaweed, grapefruits and wet paint. After a first sip, it became like a horse saddle, and burnt sawdust. You know... the good stuff. On the palate, is this a Lagavulin? This is too sweet!. Vanilla cake, gooseberries. There is this bonfire rising. Wasabi and a pepper bomb. Salt water. After a first sip, it is like a vanilla water, sugar syrup and biscuits. Chocolate milk. Not your typical Lagavulin. Aftertaste is where the smoke lived. Smoke, leather and rubber. Charred oak. Nice, salty finish. It is like a salted chocolate. This was the best part of the dram. Overall, this did not felt like a Lagavulin. It felt more like a Talisker. Is that a bad thing? No. Is this a very good whisky? Yes. Having said that, i don't know if this is what you expect from a special release of this wonderful distillery, and in my books, this experiment might not be what i am looking for. It is a wonderful single malt, just not what i thought i was going to get. My honest score for this delicious single malt that has abandoned the Laga-Style is a 92 over a 100.

I’ve had the 2016-2018 and 2020, and I can confidently say that this is one of the best annual releases in all of whisky. I expect nothing less of the 2021—I must say I’m impressed with the artwork this time around. But it’s the whisky that we’re here for, so let’s hop right into it. Nose: Heavy peat, brine, sea salt, seaweed, with some background bonfire smoke and ash. As I’ve said before, it offers the lingering smell of a campfire on the beach the morning after. Bandaid. Lemon and grapefruit. Custard. Apple, raisin, cranberry, and blueberry. Chestnut. Black bean, red pepper chili. Cinnamon, black pepper, and oak. Palate: Seaweed, sea salt, brine. Iodine, campfire smoke, Lemon, lime, grapefruit, and orange. Spearmint. Custard, vanilla, caramel, and milk chocolate. Chestnut and toasted almond. Raisin, gala apple, and molasses. Black bean, red pepper chili. Cinnamon, black pepper, and oak. Finish: Seaweed, salt, and brine. Bandaid, iodine, and campfire smoke. Toasted almond. Black bean, red pepper chili. Sun-dried tomato. Cinnamon, black pepper, and oak. Long—as you’d expect of a 56.5% ABV beast. 5/5. Quite predictable if you’ve read any of my Lag 12 reviews—or the first paragraph of this one. It’s expensive, but it offers high ABV and even higher quality. $140 is a price to pay, but well worth it if you ask me. That’s actually a few bucks less than what I paid for the 2020, and about average for this line of whisky. Well done, as always.

On the Lagavulin scale, this probably falls just short of the distiller's edition but above the other lesser aged bottles (I still place the 16 above all). It's Lagavulin: sweet sea smoke, campfire and meat, seaweed, and sweet brine. There is much more vanilla and cream to this than other Lagavulin offerings, I'm thinking due to the grain, especially once it hits a caramel bread note. The transition from Lagavulin smoke to generic Islay malt threw me off...is this truly Lagavulin? The seaweed appears again with a citrus, lemon pop, followed by slight heat, with almost faint Indian spices, and black pepper. The finish is a green wood and tart puff of smoke that lingers. The biggest piece missing for me in this bottle is the hint of sherry that the 16 and Distiller's both have that balance and create all that makes Lagavulin great. This drank more like other Isay offerings (which I also love...but not as much as Lagavulin). That time 3 seconds into a Lagavulin sip that I've come to know and love takes an unexpected turn into Talisker Storm land (but much better) and only slightly gets back on course. Overall, this is a high quality product from a high quality distillery. I found it for a $17 pour, which was worth it, but the price for $130+ a bottle makes me think of the 10+ other bottles I'd rather grab in that range.