Lagavulin 12 Year (2008 Special Release)

Nose: Fresh sour & peaty lemonade, subtle floral, young leather?, and I suspect sherry involvement bc it reminds me a bit of Uigeadail. The freshness is reminiscent of Caol Ila, although I think Caol Ila's fruit is more complex. With water: sweetness jumps out at you now with lemon hard candy, more aromatic, and the alcohol nip becomes more prominent. Slight cinnamon in the background. I definitely burned my nose sniffing this one because it's that nose-able. Palate: A busy whisky that evolves on the palate and is surprisingly drinkable neat. It's got a pretty oily mouthfeel that reduces the alcohol nip, so it's on the mellow side for CS. Arrives with subtle sweetness, BIG lemony citrus, mild phenolic peat reek, and right when you swallow (my favorite part of this whisky), a huge waft floral and fruity flavorful smoke. With water: more elegant with the high aromatic notes jumping out and arrives sweeter. Finish: I'm not sure I've ever noticed a whisky with an evolving finish like this. The smoke dominates at first, but shockingly, as it recedes you go back to tangy lemon citrus, then it goes very dry and slightly leathery. Something herbal. Rosemary? Final Thoughts: "Of everything I've tried, this is most like Caol Ila, but there's a lot more depth and subtance here for sure. It's one of the best whiskies I've tried. Not a heavy hitter like Laproaig or a'bunadh; it's much more elegant, subtle, and refined. The massive complexity and sophistication is highly rewarding.

Much more complex if you are patient enough to allow the scotch to open up as you drink either neat or with a dab of water. Delicious with loads of licorice to a sweat rasin. From start to finish it will linger through time as it changes and adapts to the relative atmosphere it is enjoyed in. Best value when it comes to young scotches, the only other I would recommend Is a supernova or an octamore both being more in price.

dry smoke dominates in the best way, vanilla/caramel and hints of sweetness on the nose. full and rich on the palate with the smoke. drinkable without water as its very balanced. becomes more medicinal/ briny with water on the nose and palate. dry / fruit but not very sweet fruit prefer neat

Yes. Finally I got one bottle of the 2014 Lagavulin 12 years old. Nose is lightly weaker than the classic 16 years old. But still got all the peat smoke medicine. On palate is much more oily, dryer and more kick due to its 54.4%. Finishing with nice and easy sweet malty and dry woody.

I have both the 2013 and the 2014 versions. I feel the 2013 is better - it offers more antiseptic feel in the mouth and is slightly darker in color. Also, the 2013 has a higher ABV than the 2014. These are great whiskies - but they need a few drops of water to open up and shine.

Initial flaviours.... Smoky Peaty fades away fast. Mild vanilla when diluted along with slight hay smell. Sweet but cant point finger to what flaviour of sweetness is linked. Echo of burned bacon rashes