Lagavulin Lagavulin Feis Ile 2014 19 Years Old 54.7% 1995

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (94)

Lagavulin truly is a classy brand… oops, distillery. I really enjoy the fact that they never compromise and never play it the ‘Miley-Cyrus-way’, or make these false innovations that just everybody does these days. A gentleman’s whisky, really.

Colour: full gold.

Nose: I was a little afraid it would be a fatty sherry monster, while it’s not at all. The sherry’s only another ‘spice’, all the rest is textbook coastal Islayness, and guess what – and I swear I’m not making this up – it does nose a bit like the 16 years old at cask strength. Same notes of rubber bands (or, indeed, wet-suit), oranges, walnuts, seashells, tar, pink grapefruits, almonds, a little tobacco and smoked tea… What’s more obvious than in the 16 is this massive iodine that mingles perfectly well with the grapefruits. Brilliant. With water: hurray, I managed to recreate the 16 all by myself!

Mouth (neat): exceptional. Sharp, ultra-chiselled, even more ‘precise’ than, for example, the 12 yo CS, very flinty, ultra-lemony, masterfully peaty and briny… I’m truly impressed, the expression ‘sharp like a blade’ must have been invented for this one, although there is a smoothness as well that makes it relatively approachable. Don’t tell your visitors. With water: perfect. Swims like the son of Mark Spitz and Shirley Babashoff. No I don’t think they’ve ever been together, I’m just trying to sound smart despite the Lagavulinian assaults.

Finish: sadly, yes.

Comments: I think Lagavulin/Diageo have understood since quite some time now that it’s best to offer the pilgrims who fly/drive/swim to Islay for the festival the best they have, for the fairest price they can. And f***k bloody eBay. That’s very smart, and very fair. No we won’t talk about some of the other brand… oops, distilleries up there. A stunning bottle of Islay magic (and if it’s really Pinkie who did this, well we’ll call him Pinkie The Great from now on.)

Gal Granov (95)

Nose: Sweet smoke amidst oranges and citrus fruit yet on the sweeter ripe side, you can think of overripe blood oranges, that would be as close as it gets. Pepper and some tar and leather. Wood smoke. Orange marmalade and a bit of brine, salt and iodine. A rather fruity Lagavulin but still very much a Lagavulin, with all the goodness of maritime medicinal Islay profiles can deliver.

Palate: Wham! Oodles of peat and brine. Tar, iodine, peat smoke, ash. Ultra medicinal. Salty and also citrusy, yet again more on the overripe blood oranges and peat. A hint if rubber too ( sherry butts after all yea?). This is what dreams are made of. If you’re an Islay fan.

Finish: Endless. Peppery. Lots of wood smoke amidst the orange marmalade tar and brine. Tobacco leaves big-time. Did I mention it was long ?! (#TWSS)

Bottom line:

At this cask strength, this is a cracking dram. Rich, kicking, fierce and complex. It’s all you can ever ask from a 20 year old (almost) Lagavulin, and then some. So I regret I don’t have a bottle? yes, I do. Will I try to hunt down a bottle on some auction site? Maybe. I tell you, I rather have one of those, then 3 average young peated random bottles. Do yourselves a favour and get one if you can!

Words of Whisky (93)