We've got a sheet of dusty snow covering Southern Ontario today. The kind that flutters like welted dandelions, and floats around a long time before landing like a petal and coating everything with soft and shiny white.
We warm up today with some Lagavulin 12, 2018 release. 57.8% ABV. Islay. Cask strength NCF and no coloring. $215 CAD.
We sniff around.
Scott smells a bunch of stuff. Lemons. Grass. Salt.
Trevor says olives. We get excited at that.
There's a debate whether this is closer to the Lagavulin 8 or the 16. Simon says it's got elements of both, the peat of the 16 but the youth, lemon, and liveliness of the 8. Sean and Scott are leaning towards the 16 just based on the nose.
Simon gets a nutty/amaretto/marzipan type of thing.
Sean pulls seaweed out.
There's so much to it that we can't pinpoint. There's a sweetness. Sweet & sour type of thing. Indescribable sweetness.
We cheers.
Oh man. Simon's breathing fire on camera. It's got an explosion to it. He says when you swish it around it goes nuts. Lagavulin 8 on roids.
It's pretty much a copy paste from the nose. Trevor's still pulling his olives. It's not as present on the palate but still there. Lemon, earthy peat, salt. Way more complexity and depth than the 8 though. Really hard doing justice to this with tasting notes.
Simon says it's like Listerine, you just want to breathe.
The finish never ends.
Scott calls it creamy. Intense. Potent.
Reviews: Trevor likes the olive that pops. That's new. So much going on, feels like there's still things to discover. Long finish. Loves that punch in the face. He goes 90 on this one. Kyle matches that 90. For some reason it reminds him of Laphroaig PX. Nothing he doesn't like about it. It's up there with the Uigeadail for him. Scott puts it at an 88. He still likes the Lagavulin 8 a bit better. He loves this stuff, but the 8 is less explosive and harsh, more balanced. Simon says this gets his testosterone going. This makes him feel like a real man. Gets him excited. It's the best scotch he's had thus far, and he goes 93. Sean likes everything Lagavulin and this is no exception. He goes 89. Averages out to 90 flat.
Overall: this is a man's drink. We agree overall this is closer to the Lagavulin 8 than the 16, but a lot more intense and complex. It barely edges out Uigeadail as our number 1 rated scotch here on S&P. The flavors are great but it's really the feel and the fullness that gets us tonight. It's got a price tag to it, which makes Lagavulin 8 a much better value buy. At $90 CAD, we rated the 8 at a 88.8 average. If you've got the wallet and you like the idea of something excessively potent, then by all means, Lagavulin 12 is a winner. If you like something more balanced and aren't looking to break the bank, Lagavulin 8 has similar tasting notes for less than half the price, and it's by no means a light scotch. We look forward to trying some other batches of the Lagavulin 12 and comparing.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew.
Comments