NEWS: Lagavulin adds Lagavulin 8 Year Old to the range permanently

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‘Exceptionally fine’ Lagavulin 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky to secure permanent position in the range. Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch Whisky is treasured around the world as one of the most special of all Single Malts.

As part of the 200th anniversary celebrations last year, a Lagavulin 8 Year Old was launched as a special edition. Following the incredibly positive response, an 8 Year Old bottling will now join the Lagavulin family permanently. Inspired by the distillery’s rich heritage, the bottle pays tribute to Britain’s most famous Victorian whisky writer, Alfred Barnard.

In the late 1880s, Barnard, one of the first ever whisky journalists and travellers, sampled an 8 Year Old Lagavulin during a visit to Islay, describing it as “exceptionally fine” and “held in high repute.”

Georgie Crawford, Distillery Manager at Lagavulin, adds:

“The 8 Year Old is a signature Lagavulin style bottling with a liveliness that balances out the Islay smokiness. We hope that Lagavulin fans will enjoy this bottling, just as Alfred Barnard did centuries ago.”

Richard Walker, Diageo’s Global Head of Malts, said:

“Our aim for the 200th Anniversary was to bring Islay to life for as many people as possible, and by re-releasing this bottling as a permanent offering in our portfolio, we’ll be able to continue sharing Lagavulin’s heritage across the globe for many years to come.”

Lagavulin has delighted many generations of whisky drinkers. With its heartbreakingly romantic location and small distillery footprint, this sea-front distillery is highly limited in annual production therefore demand often exceeds supply. In the words of Alfred Barnard, ’no prettier or more romantic spot could have been chosen for a distillery.’ Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky will be available starting this autumn at select spirits retailers in the US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and parts of Europe.

COLOUR: A very pale gold with well-paced, elegant legs. AROMA: Immediate. Soft and light. Milk chocolate, fresh lemons and a subtle, characteristically grainy and acetic new make note. Growing gently prickly, as a considered waft of mildly sulphurous smoke, informed by a little Morello cherry compôte, hovers over a undulating bed of soft, spongy, cup-cake and vanillabuttercream. In due course a refined Lagavulin dryness of raw newsprint and clean sugar paper becomes manifest. Finally: softly sooty, with far-off phenols, subdued smoke, a little menthol and the ghost of new make. Fuller, softer and more approachable with water. Rounded. Butterscotch, tropical fruits and red berry preserves fuse with menthol below a tantalising smoky sharpness. BODY/TEXTURE: Light to medium

PALATE: A full-on Lagavulin taste. Cooling, soothing and bittersweet; becoming charred with minty, dark chocolate. Warming. Smooth tannins skirt a gently rising bituminous note in a clean, beautifully balanced, midpalate; followed by savoury baked potato skins, salt, smoke, and pine sawdust into the finish. At reduced strength, the taste is sweeter and spicier, gaining complexity with hints of citrus, mint and vanilla ic

e-cream, aniseed and tarragon. leaving the tongue tingling.

FINISH: At first, reassuring smokiness. Then, effortlessly smooth and comforting as silky, chocolatey tannins and hints of kirsch are embraced by subtle phenols, rising menthol and resin with traces of cedar and vanilla. Clean, lightly coating and moreish throughout, with a late, powdery, ash-ridden astringency.

Tags: Lagavulin

Greg

My name is Greg, and I’m a brand strategy consultant, writer, speaker, host and judge specialising in premium spirits. My mission is to experience, share and inspire with everything great about whisky, whiskey, gin, beer and fine dining through my writing, my brand building and my whisky tastings.