Lagavulin 26 Year Old Diageo Special Release 2021 - 44.2% 70cl

Nose: On the mellow nose a finely woven wine-woody aroma of great complexity takes time to yield its individual secrets. Light, fresh and vinous top notes mingle with the linseed oil of an artist’s studio then fade into a warm suggestion of sun-bleached polished mahogany, backed by dry edible seaweed, with sweeter hints of baked fig and butterscotch. Palate: In the light, ultra-smooth and oily texture a sweetness briefly gleams, soon tinged with salt and pepper, the whole growing more savoury and smokier all the time. Here is all the precious sweet-smoky style of Lagavulin, in a glowing, well-rounded form. Finish: Long, sweetly warning and faintly smoky, as with smouldering beech leaves, leaving an aftertaste of chanterelle mushrooms. A drop of water introduces a little pepper, then the smokiness reasserts itself in the drying aftertaste.