Lagavulin 12 Year The Flames of the Phoenix (2022 Special Release)

These Lagavulin 12 year releases are a winner for me every year. I don’t know if I could say I had one single favorite; they’re all similar to a degree. 2016-2018, 2020-2021. This is my 6th go at this line, and I’m very much looking forward to this. Nose: Heavy peat, campfire smoke, brine, sea salt, ash, and iodine. Tire rubber—not off-putting. Bandaid. Lemon, lime, and grapefruit citrus. Golden Teddy Graham. Vanilla custard. Raisin, plum, and blueberry. Hazelnut. Black bean, red pepper chili. Sun-dried tomato. Cinnamon and oak. Paprika and black pepper. Toffee and caramel. Milk chocolate. Palate: Massive enticing heat. The peat and coastal notes and spice step to the forefront whereas the nose had more fruit and sweet up front with the peat. Sea salt and seaweed. Ash, menthol, and iodine. The campfire smoke is accompanied by barrel char. and Red hot tamale. Cinnamon and oak. Roasted pineapple. Dark and mint chocolate. Hazelnut. Raspberry chocolate. Blackberry, raisin, and plum. Toasted almond. Vanilla frosting/custard. Mint chocolate Finish: Sea salt and brine. Ballpark soft pretzel. Milk chocolate, toffee, caramel, and butterscotch. Hookah and campfire smoke. Ash and tire rubber. Iodine. Mint chocolate. Black bean red pepper chili. Red hot tamale. Heaps of cinnamon, black pepper, and oak spice. A powerful combination of peat heat and spice, coastal notes, some citrus fruit, and confectionery sweets. Some of those are natural, while others are purely artificial. All in all, this whisky covers almost base in terms of profile. And it does a damn good job in representing each attribute. 5/5. Though the price has slightly raised, the 12-year continues to be something I look forward to each year. Uncut goodness like this is hard to come by—and it’s even more rare to find it with an age statement. At $145, this was worth the cost of entry. Looking forward to the 2023 next.

After suffering a little dissapointment with the Talisker Diageo Special Release 2022, i had my faith on the Lagavulin from the same collection, with a lovely phoenix in the label. This natural cask strength bottling is 57.3%abv, and it is said that the master distiller picked the smokiest casks of the warehouse to put together this single malt. Well, as soon as i uncorked it i said "Woooohoooo!" The aroma was absolutely incredible. Coffee, a marvelous cocoa note that is filled with peat. Earthy and smokey; bacon notes. Medicinal profile as well. It is so powerful on the nose, but in a very good way. Plastic and gooseberries. After the first sip it released chocolate notes. A fish market. Hazelnuts. SPECTACULAR. On the palate it is perfect. Chocolate, hazelnut, Nutella, salt. It is wonderful, awesome, amazing and every other adjective you can imagine. Aftertaste is simply out of this world. Ashes, chocolate, smoke, meat with salt. You can feel that lovely layer of grease from a properly piece of meat perfectly done in a BBQ. In conclusion, this is one of the greatest Lagavulins i have had, and believe me, that is quite the statement. It is better than most whiskies i have had in 2022 and i will definitively have this one on my top ten tasted whiskies from this year. I wish i could give it a thousand points, but i will stick to some serious review score of 100 over 100. It can't be any better. Trust me. Sláinte.

On the nose musty peat, citrus, menthol, dark chocolate, anise, greasy bacon, smoked vegetables. The palate brings more sweetness than the nose lets on. Vanilla citrus, then the bacon vegetable peat smoke. The nose is really interesting as it leans much more savory and herbal. The palate seems less complex in comparison, but the sweetness that shows up is a nice surprise. A few drops of water help to bring out more of the notes from the nose. I love Lagavulin and this one does not disappoint. I bought this on sale from one of the European sites, including shipping at around $120, and at that price I'm more than pleased. I recently tried the Lag Distiller's Edition and gave it a 4.5, but i like this even better - although owing I'm sure to my predilection for higher proof whisky. Going with the same score though, because I don't believe it rises quite to a 4.75.

Is this the best Lagavulin release? No, of course not. But it has some unique notes not often found in Lagavulin, while still keeping its core profile. It's cask strength, has a beautiful illustration on the bottle and packaging, and isn't really out of the normal price range that the brand's regular offerings encompass. It's time for us drinkers to stop comparing modern releases and prices to the Golden age of yesteryear. If you can already afford Lagavulin 16 at today's prices, you'd do well to grab a bottle of this while you can. We can be discerning to avoid getting ripped off, without completely unfair comparisons to a time when whisky was cheaper across the board. If you're going to get a 2022 special release whisky, this is probably at the top.

Color: Sunny dandelion. Nose: Creamy banana meets a surprising level of salt and seawater. Some classic Lagavulin campfire smoke but a sweeter and more marine nose than I'm used to. Palate: Rich and meaty and saturated with charcoal. Still, however, vegetative sweetness persists - redolent of butternut squash or grilled plantains. Finish: Smoke gets dialed up on the way out, almost to a point of ashiness. Pungent plumes from a tailpipe. Diluted: Graham cracker smores erupt from the nose, with more layered bourbon notes on the palate. Palate retains its smoke, almost in its entirety.

Fiery peat and spiky. Im a huge fan of the special release 12y CS. Have had every release since 2018. This is a solid entry and reminiscent of the others in the series but not quite as good as the previous years. It just lacks the complexity and signature lemon vegetal notes of its predecessors. As the price has creeped up to rhe $160 range these are unfortunately no longer auto buys. I wouldnt buy again at $140 but rather would seek out older vintages. Even the 2021 was superior with 2019/2020 my faves.