Cooper’s Choice: Laggan Mill: Cask 7977 (Scottish Islay Single Cask Malt Whisky: 46% ABV)
Visual: Very clear with a slight brackish tinge. Becomes very hazy with water.
Viscosity: Fast medium sized streaks.
Nose: Salt spray water. Paint pots. Wet moss. Oily. Chargrilled beef. Smoke. Rock Salts. Granite. More rocks with water.
Body: Lime sours. High alcohol. Golden syrup and custard. Beef broth. Yorkshire puddings. Blueberry and blackcurrant – slightly jammy. Smoother with water but still full bodied. More custard. Strawberry. Soft salted lemon juice.
Finish: Blueberry. Vodka. Lime jelly. Toffee. Honey. Peat and smoked beef slices. Water makes like vodka jelly mixed with custard notes. Brings out pepper, barley biscuits and malt chocolate.
Conclusion: Damn, this is nigh clear to the eye, but intense to the tongue. As mentioned in the Background I am certain this is a Lagavulin, but for that it is surprisingly fruity, while still having that lovely smoked broth character in full show.
As can be expected of a 46% abv whisky it is slightly alcohol led, but the basis of this strong Islay whisky is still easy to see. There is still those beef and peat notes but laid over a mix of toffee, custard and golden syrup in the base. I presume this was a bourbon barrel cask aged spirit and it seems much cleaner than most Lagavulin I have encountered, making it more of a shining bright and raw experience.
Maybe this is a younger expression as well than the usual 16 year old – it seems to allow more of the base spirit character show – with water however the alcohol gets toned down and you get this lovely mix of bright spirit against Islay rocks, peat and salt experience. The younger character seems to allow salted lemon to mix with sweet dark fruit in the middle, very juicy feeling and a real contrast to the harsh Islay style.
This makes for a less balanced expression that the 16 year official bottling, but it also means that this is worth trying as its own thing. You feel like you are getting another side of the Laguvulin spirit here.
Not quite as good as the 16 year or the distillers edition, but then again, Lagavulin is one of the jewels in the whisky crown. This is still awesome Lagavulin, which means awesome whisky, period.
Background: Bottled 2015, I don’t have an age statement for this one as I can’t find any indication of the distillation date. I have it on good authority that Laggan Mill is in fact, duh, duh, duh, Lagavulin as the distillery will not allow people to use their name on independent bottlings most of the time. I adore Lagavulin so this was a must grab when I found it at Independent Spirit. Anyway this is a single cask Hogshead, and one of 330 bottles. Drunk while listening to some Crossfaith – absolutely awesome band to see live if you get the chance.
