|
|
3rd Party Tasting Notes
The Islay representative in the 'Classic Malts' series is a deep, dry and exceptionally peaty bruiser. Probably the most pungent of all Islay malts, Lagavulin is not for the faint-hearted but inspires fanatical devotion in its many followers.
The Whisky Exchange
Nose: Lapsang Souchong and fruity sherry.
Palate: The dryness is at first offset by the sweetness of the sherry character. As the palate develops, oily, grassy, and, in particular, salty notes emerge in a long, sustained, aggressive, attack.
Finish: A huge, powerful, bear-hug of peat.
Comment: The driest of Islay malts, and an established classic.
Palate: The dryness is at first offset by the sweetness of the sherry character. As the palate develops, oily, grassy, and, in particular, salty notes emerge in a long, sustained, aggressive, attack.
Finish: A huge, powerful, bear-hug of peat.
Comment: The driest of Islay malts, and an established classic.
Michael Jackson, Whisky Magazine #6
Nose: Massive peat. Ultra-intense iodine carries a shade more spice than of old. The fruity-sherry notes are clean, vanilla is much deeper. Beautifully layered.
Palate: Peat so thick you could stand a spoon in it. Chewy iodine bolstered by sherry and big oak.
Finish: A little spice lightens the grip of the peat and vanilla. Dries off with malt, dried dates...and iodine.
Comment: A true classic in every sense that offers breathtaking depth.
Palate: Peat so thick you could stand a spoon in it. Chewy iodine bolstered by sherry and big oak.
Finish: A little spice lightens the grip of the peat and vanilla. Dries off with malt, dried dates...and iodine.
Comment: A true classic in every sense that offers breathtaking depth.
Jim Murray, Whisky Magazine #6
Nose: Loads of leather - like in an old saddle shop. Wood too, masking some subtle fruits. Sweaty notes and other organics. Burnt nuts. Perhaps some fruits were replaced with spices?
Taste: Beautiful balance between peat and fruits.
Finish: Dry finish with a touch of liquorice. Tannins too - but no fruits. This has a brilliant 'opening' that's worthy of a score in the 90's, but after half a minute it drops down.
Score: 89 points - I tried it blind for the MM Awards 2008, so I'm pretty sure Lagavulin is coming back.
Taste: Beautiful balance between peat and fruits.
Finish: Dry finish with a touch of liquorice. Tannins too - but no fruits. This has a brilliant 'opening' that's worthy of a score in the 90's, but after half a minute it drops down.
Score: 89 points - I tried it blind for the MM Awards 2008, so I'm pretty sure Lagavulin is coming back.
Malt Madness
The Distillery: Lagavulin
| Established: 1816 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Argyll PA42 7DZ |
| → website |
But look at the time - it"s time to wrap up this profile... So, here are the highlights & lowlights in Lagavulin"s history since it was integrated with Malt Mill. The floor maltings were closed in 1974; since then Lagavulin obtains its malted barley from the nearby Port Ellen maltings. The distillery had a difficult time during the 1980"s and for most of the decade the distillery only operated for two days a week. Production was increased again in 1991, but for a while stocks of the 16yo expression were limited. Nowadays the stock problem seems to be solved and quite a few different expressions are available, ranging from a 12yo (bottled at cask strength) to a 30yo "ultra premium" release. If you ask me, the familiar 16yo and "Distillers Edition" releases still offer the best value...
The distillery was founded in 1816 on the South shore of Islay, also known as "Kildalton". The Lagavulin distillery was built a year after neighbours Laphroaig and Ardbeg and almost a century before the Malt Mill distillery was erected on the grounds of Lagavulin.
Sir Peter Mackie didn"t take kindly to the news that his lucrative role of agent for Laphroaig would come to an end. After the courts allowed Laphroaig to dissolve the agreement, Peter Mackie had an impromptu dam erected that blocked Laphroaig"s water supply. The production ceased and once again the quarreling neighbours ended up in court. There, Peter Mackie was ordered to restore the original situation.
Sir Peter Mackie had to comply, but despite his noble title he kept plotting his revenge on the people of Laphroaig that had scorned him. He tried to take over the distillery on several occasions and when that didn"t work he built a new competitor on their doorstep.
The White Horse blend (of which the Lagavulin single malt whisky has been an important component since the beginning) was only one of the first major sucesses of Peter Mackie.
Peter Mackie has caused his fair share of controversies too, though... The biggest of these may have been the construction of the Malt Mill distillery in 1908, largely out of spite. The reason for this was a change in policy at the nearby Laphroaig distillery. For many decades(since 1847) the owners of Lagavulin had acted as agents for the Laphroaig distillery, selling the whisky that was produced there. However, in the year 1907 the owners of Laphroaig decided they felt ready to start selling their own whisky by themselves.
Founder John Johnston was an entrepreneurial type; less than a decade after he built Lagavulin he also bought the neighbouring Ardmore distillery (not to be confused with the Ardmore distillery in Speyside). They stopped production at Ardmore in 1835, after which it was combined with Lagavulin.
The Lagavulin distillery was acquired by John Crawford Graham in 1852 and passed on to James Logan Mackie & Co. in 1867. In 1878 James Logan Mackie employed his nephew Peter Mackie who took over the management and ownership of Lagavulin after James Logan passed away in 1889. Peter wasted little time and launched the White Horse blend for the export market just one year later in 1890. Incidentally, it wasn"t until 1901 before Lagavulin became available to connoisseurs within the UK.
In 1908 he built the Malt Mill distillery. As an ex-agent for Laphroaig, Peter Mackie knew the technical set-up of the distillery intimately. Putting that knowledge to good use (well, evil use actually), he commissioned a coppersmith to construct two stills that were virtual replica"s of those at Laphroaig.
Peter Mackie"s goal was to make a malt whisky that was exactly like Laphroaig, so he could simply push it from the market. That never really worked out as Peter had planned it, but Malt Mill remained in production until 1960. The "malt mill" equipment was finally removed in 1962 when Lagavulin was rebuilt and the old buildings of Malt Mill distillery were integrated with those of Lagavulin. When you"re in Lagavulin"s visitor centre you"re actually at Malt Mill.
In the new Millenium
2002 - The Lagavulin 12yo Cask Strength is released; the first official bottling at cask strength for a long time.
2006 - The oldest official bottling of Lagavulin whisky ever is released; the Lagavulin 30yo. There are actually two different versions; the Lagavulin 30yo (52.6%, OB, 2340 Bts.) which is destined for the UK and Europe, as well as the Lagavulin 30yo (54.1%, OB) which is available in the USA and international markets.
Trivia:
- At one time maverick distillery manager Peter Mackie also owned the Craigellachie distillery in Speyside and the Hazelburn distillery in Campbeltown. Both passed on to other owners over time.
- Lagavulin was part of Diageo"s original series of six "Classic Malts", together with Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Oban and Talisker. This series was first released in 1988. Around 2005 seven other distilleries were added to the range; Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Glen Elgin, Glen Ord, Knockando and Royal Lochnagar.
- When the "Classic Malts" range was released at the end of the 1980"s the standard expression of Lagavulin (which had been a 12 years old whisky until that time) was upgraded to a 16 years old version. For a decade, that was the only available expression. At the end of the 1990"s the double matured "Distiller"s Edition" was released, followed by a string of other bottlings a few years later.
- The current Lagavulin 16yo is still a very fine dram, but the bottlings from the early 1990"s are TRULY great. However, the design of the Lagavulin bottle has hardly changed in two decades. That makes it very hard to tell when a particular bottle you find in a store or at an auction was bottled. That"s a bummer; I"d be willing to pay significantly more for a bottle that was bottled in 1991 than for a bottle that was bottled in 2001. Nevertheless, there are some subtle changes in the packaging that allow you to tell the difference between various batches. The oldest (and "best") batches from the late 1980"s and early 1990"s can be identified by the royal seal at the top of the oval-ish vertical label ("by appointment to her majesty the queen") and the text "1816" and "Isla" on both sides of the oval-ish label, painted in gold. Bottlings from the late 1990"s - slightly less spectacular but still great - still had the royal seal, but the text in gold paint next to the label became a bevelled part of the bottle. In both cases the text at the bottom of the main label said "White Horse Distillers Glasgow. This had been changed to "Port Ellen" on bottlings that were released after circa 1999. On these 3d millennium bottlings the royal seal has been replaced with a sail ship.
from MaltMadness.com
The Owner: Diageo
| Established: 1997 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Henrietta Place, London, W1G ONB, UK |
| → website |
Diageo also distributes Unicum, its lighter-bodied variant Zwack and Jose Cuervo tequila products in North America. However, Cuervo operates as a separate company in Mexico and is not owned by Diageo. Similarly Grand Marnier is distributed by Diageo in many markets, including exclusively in Canada, and a deal was reached in 2009 to significantly expand this partnership in Europe.
Furthermore, Diageo owns the Gleneagles Hotel.
Diageo was formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc. The creation was driven by the two executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea at Guinness plus George Bull and John McGrath of Grand Metropolitan. The product portfolios of Guinness and Grand Met were largely complementary with little overlap.
Diageo is the world"s biggest whisky producer with 28 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries.The company operates the Scotch whisky distilleries of Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol (situated at Pitlochry), Caol Ila, Cardhu, Knockando, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker, Teaninich, Mannochmore, Mortlach and Glenlossie, which are sold not only under their own name but used to make the various blended scotch whiskies sold by the company, and owns the stock of many closed distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora, Convalmore, Glen Albyn, North Brechin, Banff, and Linlithgow. The company have opened a new malt distillery adjacent to their maltings at Roseisle (1st new make spirit produced Spring 2009). This will be one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland. The new building contains 14 traditional copper pot stills. An expansion programme is also underway at its Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife that will make it the largest grain distillery in Scotland. Diageo also owns the Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow, and jointly operates the North British Grain Distillery in Gorgie, Edinburgh, with The Edrington Group.
Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO) is the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The word Diageo was formed from the Latin dia (day) and the Greek geo (World), symbolising the use of the company"s brands every day, everywhere. Its head office is located in the City of Westminster in London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Trivia:
- In December 2003, Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a single malt to a vatted malt (also known as a pure malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the Spanish market, where Cardhu had been successful. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes.
- In 2006, the Cardhu brand quietly changed back to being a single malt.
- In July 2009, Diageo announced that, after nearly 200 years of association with the town of Kilmarnock, they would be closing the Johnnie Walker blending and bottling plant as part of restructuring to the business. This would make 700 workers unemployed and caused outrage from press, local people and politicians. A campaign against this decision was launched by the local SNP MSP Willie Coffey and Labour MP Des Browne. A petition was drawn up against the Diageo plans, which also involves the closure of the historic Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow.
- In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
- Diageo is engaged in a tax scheme in the United States of America, commonly referred to as the "Rum Bailout", which will guarantee it USD$3 billion in revenues and profits.
- The National Puerto Rican Coalitionplans to run a series of ads in New York City and Puerto Rico urging a boycott of Diageo-owned alcoholic drinks to protest the giant British-owned corporation"s controversial production move of its Captain Morgan rum from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
from Wikipedia