Lagavulin 23 yo 1992/2016 ‘Selected by Boyao Zhao’ #5745 vs Lagavulin Feis Ile 1991/2015
So no waffling about. Everyone who tunes in onto whisky news knows how big a deal it is to have a cask of Lagavulin issued for you. Or a new issue Rare Malt Lagavulin 40yo for that matter.. Both for the Chinese market by the way.
Lagavulin 23 yo 1992/2016 ‘Selected by Boyao Zhao’ matured in Bodega Sherry cask #5745 55.7%
Nose: Deep rich with a beguiling subtlety. This one speaks of aromatic woods like agar and cedar deeply polished with furniture waxes. No doubt it is thickly sweet and phenolic Lagavulin style – that’s dirty, earthy, mezcal-y, rubbery but that dry smoke! – but it’s far more elegant than blustery, you could say it’s farther along the way to the 30 yo rather than the powerful 21 yo. Even comes with a hint of farmyard. One of the few whiskies I absolutely adore with sherry. On hindsight it actually sits quite close to the 16.
Palate: Immediately dry and woody. Unsweet nutmeg – you’ve been up to Malaysia and bit on a real nutmeg? Really grippy even but slathered in dried fruit. The dry rich woodsmoke is everything. This one is truly elegant but deep and nuanced. Then takes on sweeter notes that’s more overtly sherried. An almost sappy licorice and aromatic waxiness.
Finish: Dry! Very aromatic woods and dry smoke again.
Mr Zhao sure knows how to select a cask, also has a very fine nose I think.
Lagavulin Feis Ile 1991/2015 59.9%
Nose: Much more apparent and forward. Not sure it is attributable it to the cask make up alone. I even sense something of the annual 12 s in here, and in that sense it really tells you something about distillery character. It’s all razzy earthy almost-petrochemical phenols massing about up front. Very earthy – dried bark. Hits of custard and white wood and some furniture wax. Also much more obvious maritime notes than Mr Zhao’s cask.
Palate: Powerful stuff, hugely Lagavulin. Big salty and maritime, sweet but its the spirit but not the sherry, of which there really isn’t much in here. Mezcally-earthy-rubbery-phenols, full on. Green wood, Juniper, capsicums. Saltwater and seaweed. Smoke smoke smoke. A very present style. Fantastic.
Finish: Just great. More of the same.
I had heard this was a good one, and I am not disappointed. Unless you like more sherry in your Lagavulin, but I think that’s a bona fide crime here and I won’t talk to you anymore. Did I mention this is my favourite distillery?
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