Lagavulin 10 yo 1988 / 1998 Horae Solaris Moon Import 50% vs Lagavulin 1988 Samaroli 56%
Lagavulin 10 yo 1988 / 1998 Horae Solaris Moon Import 50%
I know the thing about Lagavulin and its consistent style, but there is so very little in this nose that would suggest Lagavulin blind. It’s so clean and crisp, my mind goes to 70s Ardbeg or a fresh Caol Ila. No dirty-greasy-sooty-burnt herbs, no mezcal, no thick sea mud. Instead this is precisely salty, with cold sea air, wet wool, mentholated ointment, cold ash, hot white sand and dried lemon rinds – and just that, yet such chiselled power and what elegant expression. The well worn phrase ‘a blade of a whisky’ is meaningfully employed here. 91 pts.
Lagavulin 1988 Samaroli 56%
Found those misplaced sea mud-caked boots. To be fair it isn’t as fat nor herbaceous-ly dirty as a modern Lagavulin either, although elements certainly come through on the tongue. Otherwise its marvellously coastal again. Soot, with a little grease, barbecued meat, char, carbonized things, coal fires and roasting lemons. And a peculiar ozone and old hotel carpets. The ocean positively lapping away in the glass. Great whisky from a great Islay distillery, no surprises there, but for this increased ‘breadth’, its lost the edge against the purity of the Horae Solaris. 90 pts.
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