Lagavulin 2007 & 1995 Warehouse Tastings Reviews

Hi everyone,

I’ve got two rare Lagavulin’s that have been lugged back from Islay and Campbeltown for me to taste. There will be much thanking of Mike for this feat, as he was the one there and very kindly let me taste them.

I missed out on Lagavulin on my own Islay trip as it was undergoing maintenance, and I didn’t know about the most talked about tour on the whole of Islay; the legendary warehouse tasting with Iain MacArthur. My mistake but I did pop into the shop and get the 12yo cask strength, which really impressed me.

A little wiser now, I know that Lagavulin can be just as good as Laphroaig and Ardbeg, which these really prove:

Cadenhead’s Islay Single Malt Warehouse Tasting 58.8%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Raw and coastal, lots of peat, some malt, clean Riesling-like minerality, lemon juice behind, slightly savoury as it opens up.

Water: Chimney soot, ash, put out fire, a dirtier minerality.

Taste: Soft, beautifully balanced arrival, malty, great minerality, heaps of peat and smoke, more juicy lemon then with a real edge to it like you literally just bit into one. Great!

Water: Still great. A little dirtier with soot.

Finish: Long length. Powerful, balanced, great transition, malty, sea salt, lemon juice.

Absolutely definitely a Laga, so says Mike. A really fun, awesome whisky that reminds you of the raw power of Islay.

85/100

Lagavulin 23yo Warehouse Tasting 54%ish

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Immediately complex, balanced and interesting. There's still freshness here with lime and lemon rind citrus, spearmint, beautiful soft ash, lovely light sweetness from the Sherry and a little funky seashore bringing complexity, sea salt, a little seaweed left on the beach for a little too long, crystallised honey, really lovely dried apricot and a little vanilla with icing sugar. Fantastic nose, if there's a flaw here I can't detect it.

Taste: Intense arrival then soft and then grows back up again. A whisky that really knows what’s its doing with development and structure. Waves of complex flavour but really kicks up after a few more seconds with a lot of Laphroaig-like seashore notes and minerality, there's some discreet oak drying, dried seaweed. Lime juice, sea salt, a little earthiness, dried apricot again, some ash and soot coming more into the finish. Doesn't quite deliver on the promises of the nose though, it’s just a tad too dry and the oily mouthfeel has been dulled a bit. Minor things though, minor things.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More of the lime juice, more oak here too with this sooty cooling mint thing going on.

Refill Sherry Cask. Many, many thanks to Mike for bringing back this one. The nose is the equal of the Laga 25 200th but the oak has gotten to the taste a little more. A shame, but still, Lagavulin is always a pleasure to taste at this age, especially straight from the cask, or as near to as possible considering you're trapped in Wales.

89/100

Distillery: Lagavulin

Average Score: 81.7

Distillery Ranking 5th/ 62 places

Up/Down: 11>5 (Up 6)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #653-#654

Whisky Network Reviews #783-#784

Network Average: 75.0

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

[Scotland Stag] At an' In Tomatin: Last Day

Hi everyone,

It was the Octo-morning after the night Bowmore and we were a bit hungover. We had a tour booked at Tomatin later in the afternoon and after some deciding, decided to go to Glenlivet for a quick tour first.

I would recommend the Glenlivet tour if you’re in the area. Good guide and you get to see the new stillhouse, which really shows off a modern distillery. Literally one person can control everything, from mashing to distillation, from a laptop. Pretty cool. 

Also, it’s not loads of money and you get it all back in tasters and even a miniature of the 18yo. I’d tried all the Glenlivet’s before, and none were very different from last time I’d tried them. But there was one unique whisky, a sample of Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve finished in a Sherry barrel, drawn directly from the cask. Again, pretty cool.

Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve Sherry Finish 60% approx.

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Sweet, young apple, cream soda, vanilla ice cream float, subtle but rubbery Sherry. Floral too.

Taste: Intense, young spirit, green apple, ginger and coriander spice.

Finish: Long length. Chocolate-y with vanilla.

A really interesting one to try, and quite different to the original.

72/100

Smacking a Butt at Glenlivet

After that we rushed off to Tomatin. Which ending up being the best tour of the trip I think. (Tom thought it was Glenfarclas, with this a close second).

I’d tried some Tomatin before; the Legacy, 1995 Sherry Finish and the 36yo, and me and the general had tried a great 1992 from the old packaging. Despite that, I wasn’t expecting huge things from the tour, even though we’d gone for the more expensive single cask tasting. Boy, was I wrong.

If you don’t know, Tomatin is a huge distillery. Well, was. In it’s prime, it had the largest capacity of production for a malt distillery, but it was all for blends. The distillery was closed for a year in 1985 and the distillery was bought in 1986. The new owners decided to focus more on single malt (not completely), but made the decision that production should be cut and they should focus more on quality. It went from 12m Litres to 5m.

Charlie was our tour guide, and he quickly established himself the catchphrase ‘pretty smart,’ which was pretty smart. He seemed to say it after almost every sentence, and, far from being annoying it, made him a real character. Being a tour guide myself for a while now, he was one of the best.

The tour in a word was badass. A little history but not too much, just the important stuff. Charlie gave us a look at the malt bins and grist mill, then the mash tun and fermenting tanks. The distillery runs 24/5 at the moment, so everything was off and we got a good look at multiple stages of the wash fermenting, as well as a bit of a taste.

The distillery also features some cool devices, like a shell & tube condenser that you can look into and the only mash tun you can walk inside. These things are really unique and give you a much better understanding of how these things actually work.

Then, it was onto the tasting.

Tomatin is perhaps the king of the ‘bottle your own.’ They have five. Which is crazy, and also awesome.

We were on the single cask tasting, which meant we got to try all of them. And then Charlie let us try the rest of the Tomatin range, but I didn’t have time to make any good notes.

Tomatin New Make Spirit 71.4%

Nose: Crisp, peach schnapps, green apple, very soft. Clean. A nice new make.

Tomatin 2013 Virgin Oak 61.4%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Full

Nose: Lots of oak, Salted caramel, peach schnapps, ginger. More floral as it opens up.

Taste: Intense, peach schnapps, caramel, some very spicy vanilla.

Finish: Long length. Oak and a nice oiliness.

We tasted this semi blind and I guessed it was 9 years old. It’s only 3 ½. Harsher with water though.

78/100

 

Tomatin 2005 Bourbon 58.6%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Softer than the VO. Vanilla, intense spice, some herbal Bourbon-esque notes. Opens up with some water.

Taste: Really spicy, ginger, white pepper, lots of clove, lots of oak.

Finish: Long length. Oak fades, clove stays on.

12 years old. A little too spicy. Unbalanced.

74/100

Tomatin 2005 Oloroso Sherry 58.2%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Really intense and rich Sherry, loads of raisin and nice smoky tobacco.

Taste: Really really rich. Raisin, loads of sweetness, lovely tannins balancing the sweet, some spice. Great chewy mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length. More rich sweetness, very chewable.

11 years old. This really blew the Aberlour distillery exclusive out of the water.

82/100

Tomatin 2002 PX Sherry Finish 54%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Woah! Different and very unique. Roast beef crisps (yes, really) and they smell delicious. Also turmeric and curry spice.

Taste: Clean arrival, then great sweetness, meaty with those roast beef crisps again, then some curry powder. Both creamy and oily. Great mouthfeel.

Finish: Long length. Complex with sweet and savoury notes, oiliness that keeps going.

10 years in Bourbon, then a 4 year finishing in PX Sherry. A really unique whisky that I heartily recommend. There’s a lovely balance and mix of flavours.

85/100

Tomatin 1990 Bourbon Barrel 54.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Much softer than the others. Lovely tropical notes, mango, pineapple, cinnamon, melon.

Taste: Great pace to this. Soft first, then building tropical and waxy, mango then pineapple, soft cinnamon in the background.

Finish: Long length. Oak, musky and waxy, a little salt.

26 years old. A great one undoubtedly, but doesn’t quite meet the complexity and balance of the PX.

82/100

After all of that we headed back to the shop, where Charlie let us try the Tomatin Contrast. A really interesting whisky in which they took one barrel from each selected vintage to marry together, but kept the Bourbon and Sherry casks separate for two 35cl bottles you could buy together to compare.

 

Tomatin Contrast Bourbon 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Tropical, musky and waxy. Quite similar to the 1990 bottle your own.

Taste: Musky oak, oily vanilla, great waxiness, vanilla pod, some soft spice.

Finish: Long length. More tropical again, then dry oak.

Nice waxy and musky notes here but it doesn’t have the balance of the 1990.

78/100

Tomatin Contrast Sherry 46%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Musky refill Sherry, some cherry, waxy and slightly earthy.

Taste: Soft, raisin, tropical mango and pineapple, great spice, some oak.

Finish: Long length. Tropical and then some nice chocolate.

Again, another great one. A nice comparison to the Contrast Bourbon, but I think this is a bit more complex.

80/100

That’s all folks!

After the tour, we headed back to the airport for the flight home. I couldn’t have wished for a better stag do and many thanks to my man Tom James for coming with and generally being awesome.

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #404-#412

Whisky Network Reviews #450-#457

Network Average: 74.8

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

[Scotland Stag] Raid on the Craig Round 2: Quaich-ing in my boots!

Hi everyone,

For the last night of the trip, of course we had to head back to the Craigellachie Hotel for another round of epic whisky tasting.

I wouldn’t say Ar-ran all the way there, but we were pretty eager to get back!

We got there after 8pm and stayed till closing, which was 1am, when we had to throw in the Tomin-towel. Unfortunately, a wedding party came in at 12:58 and I’m pretty sure Lyndsey was up, keeping them happy for another few hours. We felt really guilty, if it weren’t for us maybe she could have closed just before they arrived!

At least for us, it was another great night of chatting, tasting and laughing (mostly at whisky related puns).

The great epiphany of the night was that Ardmore can be incredible whisky and I should point out that Tom's favourite whisky of the trip was a G&M Ardmore 1996, even above the old Glenfarclas’ we tried.

Bladnoch 1992 Berry Bros & Rudd 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Delicate floral and herbal, backed up by malt, deep musky, musty notes, nice sour green apple and lemon citrus, dried grass and flowers.

Taste: Sweetness first then dry and oaky. Herbal and floral complexity, old dried flowers, lemony and sour in a great way.

Finish: Medium length. Pleasant, grassy with lots of dry oak.

A few berries with water. This was a really good one, very impressed with what I’ve tried from Bladnoch so far.

78/100

 

Glengoyne Spring 1972 (Bottled 1998) 55%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: On this trip, if we could say ‘really’ about something, we would use the suffix -af (as in ‘as fuck). This smells OLD-AF, like Highland Park 40 levels of old, dry oak, some red apple, old dried heather, a little perfumed, a little nutty, dried orange peel.

Taste: Sharp oak, lots of oak and red apple, black pepper spice, then a mix of unexpectedly spritzy spirit and old oak. Red berry, dried flowers and a herbal edge.

Finish: Short/Medium Length. Surprisingly short, dried heather then a little chocolate.

What an amazing vintage to be able to try. Many people say it’s a magical vintage for whisky, well Serge mostly. This was great, but a little out of balance.

80/100

Craigellachie 21 Single Cask Hotel Exclusive 57.2%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Big big whisky. Robust is the word here. Old oils, rich sherry, dried fruit, complex layers of flavour, complex spices.

Opens up with water, giving some berries and musky oak.

Taste: Rich, robust, then a softer wave, then builds back up again, with rich spices chocolatey oak, dried fruit from the Sherry. Oily and mouth coating. Complex chocolate.

Finish: Long length. A burst of Sherry, then orange, oils, lovely heathery chocolate going on and on. Very complex finish, also delicious.

Wonderful. First taste was emotional, which usually denotes a 90’s score but I didn’t get the experience again and I think this is just as good as the Ledaig 1973 from the day before so…

89/100

Ardmore SMWS 66.99 8yo ‘Custom’ Virgin Oak Finish 60%

Pine smoked salmon and burning heather

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: A bit strange. Really intense smoke, peat, a bit meaty with fried pork fat, vinegar, salt & vinegar crisps, perfumed bourbon-esque oak, salty samphire, some ‘green’ oak. BIG vanilla and chewy fruit gums too.

Taste: Soft start, then HUGE intense peat! and spicy pepper, loads of oak, toffee, salted caramel, salt & vinegar, tastes like the smell of a Chippy. Wat?

Finish: Short length. Leaves suddenly, but some spices. Bit of a let down.

No idea what ‘custom’ means? But we had a good laugh trying to figure it out. A great whisky till the finish but completely different from a lot of others, which really makes it stand out. With water you get more youth coming out with a sooty finish.

82/100

Glen Grant 9.104 27yo SMWS 55.5%

Lychee Martini

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Atypical, almost seems like the SMWS bottlings I‘ve tried so far go out of their way to be very different to the usual distillery profile. Fruit salad on this one, melon, green grape, raisin, nuts, hazelnut. Wither water it gets more leafy and green with lettuce.

Taste: Intense, beautiful Sherry and fresh raisin, stewed fruit, some light malt, some intense spicy oak, European oak maybe?, walnut, hazelnut and melon too. With water it goes quite intensely spicy then fresh fruit with fruity chewy sweets.

Finish: Short length. Another short finish, damn. Fades quickly with a tiny bit of oak.

A bit of a weird one in the end, the nose is a bit too green and it loses all balance with water. The short finish is another let down too. A shame. Still good, don’t get me wrong!

77/100

Other drams we tried but I didn’t make notes on:

Ardmore 14 Douglas Laing Old Particular- Very Good

Glenburgie 9 SMWS 71.43 1st Fill Sherry- OK but overwhelmed by the Sherry

Ardmore 1996 Gordon & MacPhail- Tried it before and thought it was very good, but Tom loved it.

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #399-#403

Whisky Network Reviews #445-#449

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

[Scotland Stag] How Could I MacFail to Buy Something: G&M Shop

Hi everyone,

Next up after Aberlour was a drive up to Elgin to check out Gordon & MacPhail’s shop, and we did try to get to Benromach but we were too late in the end.

If you are in the area, I would really suggest trying to get to the G&M shop because it’s awesome, they’ve got a great selection and they don’t mind letting you taste whatever is open at the time.

I was looking for something to buy, as I hadn’t bought anything on the trip so far.

Mannochmore 1994 Gordon & MacPhail Exclusive 48.6%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Really sweet and Sherried, cherry and sweet orange, nutty and spicy too.

Taste: Soft, cherry, intense sweetness builds slowly, nutty, dry, the oak comes in with spice. Quite spicy into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Soft, sweet and Sherried.

From a Sherry Hogshead, bottled 2016. A very nice one, but the Sherry has really taken over.

80/100

Bunnahabhain 2009 Gordon & MacPhail Cask Strength 60.5%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: A nutty and Sherried Bunna, lots of cherry too.

Taste: Intense, sherry and spicy black pepper, dry oak and sweet orange.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Spicy and sweet with chewy dry raisin.

A nice one, especially if you’re a fan of Bunna but I think I’d pick the 12yo over this.

74/100

Ledaig 1999 G&M Connoisseur’s Choice 46%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Buttery and light, very little savoury notes but some smoke and red apple.

Taste: Oily and buttery, a little more smoke on the taste, red apple.

Finish: Medium length. Some spice and oak.

This is a bit vague for Ledaig, I think I would have preferred the 1998, which was from Sherry hogsheads but they didn’t have any to try.

70/100

Ardmore 2002 Gordon & MacPhail Cask Strength 57.5%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Yeah! This is more like it, a big juicy beast of a whisky!

Taste: A good hit of Sherry but character to balance it, raisin and cherry, peppery smoke but not harsh at all.

Finish: Long length. More smoke and spice comes through.

From Sherry Hogsheads. There’s a lovely balance to this with great character, great stuff. I bought a bottle and u/generalbirdy swapped what he had bought for this after trying it. First clue to the epiphany that Ardmore can be incredible.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #395-#398

Whisky Network Reviews #441-#444

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?