TASTING NOTES

LAGAVULIN 1991 – THE DISTILLERS EDITION

There’s something special about Lagavulin Whisky. Rumour has it that even after Johnny Depp gave up drinking hard liquor, he still orders Lagavulin, just for the nose. That’s only a rumour, but if Johnny’s reading – let me know and I will put the story straight once and for all.

Another rumour spotted him buying alcohol from the Queen’s off-license Berry Brothers and Rudd, though this is unsubstantiated too. Johnny, when you’re ready, drop us a line and clear this all up will you?

This bottle was distilled in 1991 and bottled in 2007, making it a Lagavulin 16, but it is different to the regular bottling in as much as the Distillers Edition is double matured in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. So, it gives a sherry finish to the otherwise more classical Islay and smoke of the standard Lagavulin 16 Scotch Whisky. It is part of the Distillers Edition series, released regularly by Diageo in part replacing the “Rare Malts” series which of course was tremendous. This series of Lagavulin Pedro Ximenez goes back at least as far as 1979, from what I can tell.

When I say there is something special, it is because Lagavulin 16 was one of the remedial bottles drunk by Grainmash between February 2008 and October 2008, but not reviewed at that time. It was one of the bottles that helped the Three Ships monkey off my shoulder and got the quest back on track. Once again, I find that the bottle is almost finished and only a touch of discipline has brought me to write this first Lagavulin whisky review. See, it’s so nice just to drink it – writing about it gets in the way!

The Lagavulin 16 is renowned for being a robust, heavy and powerful peaty, smoky whisky. And to be honest, the Distillers Edition Lagavulin 1991 is no different. It too is robust, but the peat and smoke are both tamed and balanced by the sherry finish. Michael Jackson summarized this very nicely when he wrote that the wrestling match between the distillery’s character and the Pedro Ximenez finish ended up in a draw. Whilst this famous sampler scored both the traditional 16 and the Distillers Edition evenly, Dave Broom gave the sherry finish a lower score than the straight 16. Very interesting stuff.

Now then, this must place the Lagavulin Pedro firmly in amongst the early favourites in the “special finishes” subset which became clear to me after laughing down the Bushmills Madeira, and thoroughly enjoying the Auchentoshan Three Wood. I’d say that if you like this, try the others, and if you like the others, try this. OK, got that? Good. That was the first “readers who bought this also bought the other” cross referencing functionality otherwise known to internet folk as a Recommendation Engine! Note to self – must get a recommendation engine built for Grainmash!

That is all you are getting on this for now. I’d rather go and drink it. In time, the Lagavulin Distillery, founded in 1816 at Port Ellen on the Isle of Islay will get fair treatment and full review. As one of the grand-daddies of whisky, one of the heaviest contenders for the title of “King of Isla”, we shall be back to Port Ellen in due course.

For now, let’s just summarise that if Johnny Depp was a bottle of whisky, he would be a Lagavulin. And Johnny – I thought you were fantastic in Sweeney Todd, I really enjoyed the movie. If Lagavulin were and opera, perhaps it would be Sweeney Todd. It’s a shame most people don’t have the capacity to get their heads around Sondheim’s incredible score. A top whisky, a top movie star, and a top opera.

© 2009 GrainMash.