Lagavulin 12 Year Old (Special Release 2019) Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Tasting note: Always matured in refill American oak casks and always one of the highlights of Diageo's annual collection, this year’s Lagavulin feels more earthy and lanolin-heavy than some previous bottlings: Woolshed plus a little Mezcal in the opening aromas, building with Fisherman's Friend cough lozenges, preserved lemons, a touch of iodine and dried herbs. In line with its predecessors, the creamy delivery is superbly balanced at natural strength and as complex as ever. Sweet barley arrives speckled with green chilli and lacquered in medicinal peat. There's an intense, umami finish, bringing it all together in a final wave of salt’n’ pepper, sea spray, smoked oats and gently bitter dark chocolate. It may not show the extraordinary length of all-time greats like the 2017, but the 2019 maintains Lagavulin's place as one of the eternal values in the series. 56.5% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... Matured in refill American oak casks. Brine, sea breezes, woodsmoke, green apples, and ginger on the nose, plus buttery smoked haddock. Sweet and supple on the palate, with cigar, citrus fruit, and spicy peat notes developing. Scorched saucepans, licorice, lemon juice, and black pepper in the finish. 93 points - whiskyadvocate.com, reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Winter 2019)

... Colour: pale white wine. Nose: I agree the 2020 is a little sweeter and fruitier, whilst this one is just a blade that cuts you in half as Uma Thurman would in Kill Bill. Smoked mercurochrome, concrete dust, porridge, cigar ashes. Well well well, we’re extremely far from the 16 and the SR 2020 almost feels like tangerine juice now (of course I exaggerate)… With water: grist, tincture of iodine, elastoplast, charcoal. Mouth (neat): the differences are a little less obvious on the palate, but this is more pungent indeed, more mineral, creosote-y, with lemons that are greener than those in the 2019. Sends shivers in your spine, I’m thinking of the driest dry chenins. With water: more greenness. Do they make green lapsang souchong too? Finish: long, very dry and ashy. Cold cigar ashes – I agree, better have them cold. Comments: love them both, it’s a thrill to compare them, even if you could down 50cl of each trying to find all the nuances. Do not. Now it is absolutely true that the 2020 is sweeter and fruitier, but do not expect pomegranate juice. 91 points - Serge Valentin, whiskyfun.com