Springbank 16 Year Old Local Barley Whisky Review!

The mighty, legendary first release of the current Springbank Local Barley series, the 16-year old. Despite being released only six years ago (but it feels more like a decade ago), this whisky has become almost mythical in the last year or two!

Nostalgia in whisky can be a cruel mistress. We whisky lovers tend to look at the past through rose-tinted glasses, whether they're aimed at closed or dead distilleries, older limited releases, or older and/or discontinued core range bottlings. Some are underappreciated at the time, and to paraphrase about twenty 1980s power ballads, sometimes "we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone". Sometimes these whiskies are immediately appreciated in smaller circles, but the distillery responsible then explodes in popularity and can't keep up with demand, making them near impossible to find - which brings us to Campbeltown stalwart Springbank. For quite a long time this quieter distillery was something of a "deeper cut", as in it was really only recognised by hardcore whisky fans and often spoken about in hushed tones. Springbank and it's three different spirits have always been harder to find than the more commercially-oriented, marketing-heavy brands, generally requiring more effort than simply walking into your nearest supermarket/supermarket-owned liquor store or bottle shop and grabbing one from the shelf. And it still is harder than that, except it's now gotten to the point where the usual sources have all but dried up, and most of the stock never reaches shelves of any description before it's completely sold out and allocations are exhausted. Importers themselves are selling out of entire shipments before they'd even sent their allocations to other retailer, thus narrowing the pool even further. In a way, we've brought this on ourselves - we should've all kept our mouths shut about this brilliant old-school distillery and their brilliant old-school whiskies. But in the current & continuing whisky boom, both sustained & accelerated by the pandemic, it was inevitable that the spotlight would finally shine on the "wee 'toon" that is Campbeltown. It's a shame that the region's three small distilleries never had any real chance of keeping up!

One specific iteration of Springbank that has really catapulted in demand is the Local Barley series, distilled from barley grown on the Kintyre peninsula. Prior to the sixth bottling in the series, the 10-year old sherry cask matured release from late 2020, the "LB" series was slowly on the rise in popularity, but once that dark-coloured sherry cask hit the interweb in the middle of the pandemic-induced wave of insanity that is still continuing, the entire series was propelled into the stratosphere. Now there has been another release of 10-year old Local Barley Springbank, this time from 100% bourbon casks and the largest release to date of 15,000 bottles, which in theory should make it a little easier to source than its predecessors since it won't have the same appeal to the flippers and speculators. Although something tells me I may be dreaming there! Ignoring the older releases from the late 1990s that are now unicorn bottles, this 'modern' Local Barley series started back in 2016 with the 16-year old release that we're looking at today, which is the oldest in the series by a significant margin, followed by the 11-year old. If you're wanting to buy a bottle of this 16-year old Springbank here in 2022, you'll be looking at over £2,000 GBP at the latest overseas auctions - which has almost doubled in only a few months on the same auction site. For those of us playing on the other side of the planet, that would come to something like $5,000 AUD once Australian customs have had their way with you. Truly an insane amount of money for a teenaged whisky with a relatively high amount of bottles released (9,000), and only six years ago. Here's the kicker; the original retail pricing was around £95 GBP and around $220 here in Australia, which was widely considered to be too expensive at the time, particularly in Europe. Those naysayers have certainly been proven wrong since. I did say that nostalgia in whisky was a cruel mistress!

Given those astronomical and frankly stupid current values, the source of today's review may come as something of a surprise. I actually won this 30ml sample via an Instagram giveaway during a "like & share" promotion from Australian online retailer The Old Barrelhouse, who believe it or not actually gave away four of them! Before you start sharpening your pitchforks, there was no special treatment involved, all four winners were chosen by randomiser, nor was there any obligation whatsoever to review said sample here, or to mention where it came from. In fact I debated what to do with it for quite a while! With 30ml of this modern-day unicorn whisky in hand, which is now basically unobtainable, I could either a) drink it, b) share it with a friend, or c) review it here. As you can probably tell by now, I've gone with option C, although I was leaning towards the slightly more philanthropic option B until I realised that this would only upset the friends that I didn't share it with. So I'm going to upset you all instead, by singing this whisky's praises all over the internet. Now that I think of it, I suppose option C does also contain shades of option A...

The 16-year old Springbank Local Barley was distilled in 1999 from Prisma barley grown on Low Machrimore farm on the Kintyre Peninsula, a few miles from the distillery. That barley was of course floor-malted on-site at the distillery, lightly peated to roughly 15 ppm and distilled 2.5-times in the usual Springbank fashion. It was matured in 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks, and bottled in January 2016 at a cask strength of 54.3%. As with everything from Springbank, it is non-chill filtered and no colouring has been added. Fire up the DeLorean, doc!

Springbank Local Barley 16-year old, 54.3%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Distilled in 1999 from Prisma barley grown on the Kintyre Peninsula, floor-malted and lightly peated at the distillery. Matured in 80% ex-bourbon and 20% ex-sherry casks, bottled January 2016. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,000 bottles. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Soft, minerally, malty. Peeled red apples, wet stone (flinty minerality), touch of old galvanised sheet metal and a little minty around the edges. Lovely golden malted barley, lightly grassy. Zesty lemon peel and a little honey-roasted nuts. Earthy, dusty dunnage warehouse floors, touch of fennel and white pepper. Grapefruit, clean wax and olive oil with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & oily, malty & zesty. No heat at all. 

Taste: Clean engine oils, touch of petrol, gentle ashy peat smoke. Loads of lemon peel, even more grassy malt. Drying minerality (damp stone / flint), grapefruit and white pepper again. Dusty, earthy dunnage floors, but not as dank & musty as some can be! 

Finish: Medium-long length. Grapefruit & lemon again, dried lemon now though. Dusty grassy malt, a touch of hay, soft ashy/sooty smoke and that subtle metallic note. Earthy dunnage floors again with clean industrial oils and a subtle touch of salt. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just delicious. Very "old school", with great maturity and character. But it's not as "funky" as some Springbank can get (which can tend to fade with maturation time), instead it's very malty, oily, citrusy and mineral. And there's very little obvious cask influence. Which is just what we want in a local barley Springbank! There's a nice industrial side here too, particularly on the palate and finish, but again it's not as dirty or dank as you may expect. Loads of character though, and it certainly doesn't feel like anything is missing or lacking. Not at all! 

This 16-year old Local Barley Springbank has to be one of the most "old school" whiskies that we've seen in modern times, particularly given the lack of overt cask influence of wood impact getting in the way of that lovely malty spirit. It's still the king of the current iteration of the Local Barley line-up if you ask me, but really you can't go wrong with any of them. Even the sherry cask from 2020/2021, albeit in a completely different way. These guys do not skimp on quality! 

Thanks to The Old Barrelhouse team for generously giving this sample away via Instagram - again, at random and with zero obligation whatsoever - when they could've easily sold the four samples for substantial amounts of money. This whisky deserves its legendary status - less so the current asking prices, though. 

Cheers!

Bruichladdich 11 Year Old Single Cask Barrel & Batch Exclusive Whisky Review!

A single cask Micro-Provenance Bruichladdich, bottled exclusively for Barrel & Batch, an Australian "whisky co-op" group sourcing exclusive and/or limited bottlings for their members. 

A single cask Bruichladdich is always exciting, particularly when it's an official bottling from the distillery's "Micro-Provenance (pause for a breath) Cask Evolution Exploration" range of frosted-glass bottlings that are rarely seen in this part of the world. In fact we've only officially seen one of these previously, an Australian-exclusive Syrah red wine cask that was bottled at the end of 2019 and released here in mid-2020, which I've previously reviewed here. While that cask was exclusive to the Australian market as a whole, the bottling that we're looking at today was available from just one source, the Sydney-based "whisky co-op" group that is Barrel & Batch, a relatively new company that is importing and/or reselling exclusive and uncommonly seen whiskies & whiskeys to it's members. Barrel & Batch is entirely free to join, and this is not one of the subscription-type "services" where they automatically charge your credit card every month and send you whatever they're selling, unless you ask them not to by "opting out" in advance before the deadline. Instead this is a more conventional operation where they tell you about the product, and if you want it, you order it - a much better system if you ask me! The folks behind Barrel & Batch aren't newcomers to the scene, with organisers Ray & Simon being involved in the Sydney hospitality industry for a very long time, and being behind the popular Webster's Bar in Sydney's inner-west. The pandemic hasn't exactly been kind to hospitality venues and has killed off many of them, but Ray & Simon have adapted & overcome, with this new project keeping them busy. They already have some serious notches on their bedposts, with exclusive single cask official bottlings from the likes of Old Pulteney, Glenglassaugh, and even Jack Daniels, not to mention a number of independent bottlings and Australian whiskies, and of course this official bottling from Bruichladdich that we're looking at here. Crucially they also support their releases with online tastings and launch events, often with direct participation from the distillery / bottler so they have access to first-hand information. This Bruichladdich for example was officially launched with a physical tasting at Webster's along with a live appearance (via Zoom) from Chloe Wood, the distillery's Brand Ambassador for the Asia Pacific region, and none other than Adam Hannett, their Head Distiller. Not something you see everyday, and certainly not something that every distillery would do!

"Progressive Hebridean Distillers" Bruichladdich are certainly one of Islay's most popular producers these days, so this second Australian-exclusive single cask bottling is a great thing to see. It's also quite exciting because this bottling is from a first-fill ex-bourbon cask, rather than the wine casks that are the distillery's mainstay - particularly when it comes to their namesake unpeated spirit. Yes, there are plenty of ex-bourbon or refill cask independent bottlings, and the official bottlings of the distillery's main peated spirits (Port Charlotte and Octomore in particular) see bourbon cask versions on a more regular basis. But the unpeated stuff tends to be finished or fully-matured in wine or fortified wine casks, particularly in these Micro-Provenance single casks. Some may turn their nose up at an ex-bourbon cask bottling, particularly one of an unpeated whisky, but they are often a much better example when it comes to showing distillery character and spirit character, rather than a darker and more cask-forward whisky that will inevitably attract more attention. Bourbon casks also give the influence of the barley itself a better chance to survive the maturation period, which is something that Bruichladdich excel at with their fresh & coastal unpeated spirit. Now I heard comment recently, and I won't name names, that bourbon cask Bruichladdichs "just aren't that exciting". And I disagree, because they work brilliantly when done well. And some of my favourite unpeated Bruichladdichs of all-time, the 23-year old Golder Still (reviewed here) and a 15-year old private cask bottling that I'm yet to review - but it could well beat the Golder Still's score if I do - have both been from bourbon casks, and both were incredible whiskies. And when it comes to their younger and more regular ex-bourbon stuff I also very much enjoyed the Bere Barley bottlings from the last couple of years, and the old Laddie Sixteen really opened my eyes to unpeated Islays back in the day. This distillery certainly doesn't need a fancy wine cask to show us what it can do!

In the case of this Barrel & Batch exclusive single cask, this first-fill bourbon barrel bottling was distilled from barley of the Appaloosa variety (a modern high-yielding distiller's barley) grown on the Scottish mainland, and in this case it was organically grown barley, although that isn't mentioned on the label. Along with the likes of Deanston and Benromach, Bruichladdich are one of the main players in organic Scotch whisky, with an annual release of "Bruichladdich The Organic" that could be considered part of their core range. Does organic barley actually make much of a difference to the completed whisky? Like many points of contention with whisky, there are too many other factors involved to be able to definitively answer that in either direction. But certainly the examples of that aforementioned Organic release have been markedly different to the same distillery's Islay Barley, Bere Barley and Classic Laddie releases, regardless of the exact cause for those differences which would be due to multiple factors anyway. Interestingly though I do often find the Organic 'laddie releases to be drier in flavour - as in less sweetness - than most releases in the distillery's range, and I do find a similar dryness in this single cask release. 

This Micro Provenance bottling, cask #1189, was distilled on the 31st of May 2010, fully matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon cask, and bottled on the 1st of June 2021 at a cask strength of 59.2% ABV, and of course is non-chill filtered and natural colour. It launched in Australia in October 2021, with a yield of 258 bottles. Pricing was quite reasonable at $220 AUD, around 10% less than the previous Australian exclusive Syrah cask which was six months younger - but wine casks don't always come cheap, and that one was over 62% ABV, so that slight price difference is very understandable. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow-whisky lover. Let's get to it!

Bruichladdich Micro-Provenance 11-year old, 59.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Bottled for Barrel & Batch (Australia). Distilled May 2010, fully matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, bottled June 2021. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 258 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Attacks the nose hairs! Quite "nippy", even after breathing time. There's vanilla custard, a touch of honey, and dry malty cereals. Loads of barley character. Creamy apricot yoghurt, slightly floral with a touch of tinned peaches in light syrup. Some lightly toasted marshmallow, white pepper and dried lemon peel. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Big & oily. There's definitely spirit-y heat that turns a little astringent, but the oils carry it and it's more than bearable. 

Taste: More vanilla custard and creamy apricot yoghurt, and more peaches in syrup. Then the dry cereals come through, oily with white pepper and dried lemon peel, turning slightly bitter. 

Finish: Medium length. Noticeable spirit-y heat from initial swallowing that carries through the finish. But the creamy apricot yoghurt and peaches are there, alongside the drying malty cereals, earthy white pepper and a pinch of hot cinnamon. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Towards the lower end of that scale, though.  

Notes: It's a little rough around the edges and a little raw, but there's enough oiliness and barley character to pull it off, and a great balance between cask & spirit. The barley character shows through in spades, albeit in a drier style than expected, but as mentioned above I do find that dryness in the organic 'laddies as well, so it could be a common thread. The fruitiness in this single cask is lovely too, and it's all very Bruichladdich. Some of these younger Bruichladdichs do present as being quite hot, regardless of the cask type. It's still a rarity, but I do wonder if it's down to their high to very high filling strengths? Then again, plenty of distilleries are filling their casks at still strength these days, so perhaps not. Maybe it's just the luck of the draw like with many distilleries, and it shows a little more with lighter cask influences from bourbon barrels and the like. Although I've also had an independent bottling of an older first-fill sherry cask that was considerably hotter, so who knows! 

It's great to see a second Micro-Provenance single cask make its way to Australia, so thanks to Ray & Simon from Barrel & Batch for making it happen! It was a great move going for a bourbon cask if you ask me. Bruichladdich fans love to see the distillery character shine through, and it's here in spades. 

Cheers!

Octomore 10 Year Old (2020 / 11 Series / Fourth Edition) Whisky Review!

The fourth edition of 10-year old Octomore, distilled from 208 ppm barley this time - the highest to date in a 10-year old - and bottled in late 2020. 

As much as the "standard" 5-year old Octomores can be delicious, when that number is doubled Bruichladdich's super-heavily peated whisky takes on a different persona. They're still peaty of course, but they're more rounded, more balanced and of course more mature. Obviously that differs by release, with different peat levels and different cask types involved each time, and with some being more cask-influenced than others, and some being more peat-influenced than others. But in general these older Octomores tend to be delicious, and a little less... confronting & aggressive than their younger brethren often are, particularly to relative newcomers. Due to the extra age these 10-year olds have always been significantly more expensive than the regular five-year old Octomores, save the Islay Barley bottlings anyway. None of these Octomores are budget-friendly whiskies, and said newcomers looking at a 10-year old Octomore at $300 AUD next to a 10-year old Ardbeg at $90 AUD  - or even a 10-year old Port Charlotte from the same distillery as the Octomore, at $110 AUD - might be a little confused. The first couple of appearances of a 10-year old were very special things, because they were rare and unusual things for the brand, but now as a regular occurrence they may have lost some of their allure in favour of the Islay Barley _.3 and the wine cask-finished _.2 bottlings that are seen to be more "exotic". Although they too have also crept, or in some cases jumped, up in price over the last couple of years. 

This "Dialogos" bottling from late 2020 was the fourth 10-year old Octomore (not counting the completely bonkers X4+10) that we've seen to date, released roughly alongside the 11th series of bottlings that was named 'Dialogos' (meaning "discussion"). The first 10 was released back in 2012 alongside Octomore 5.1, and it was distilled from 80.5 ppm barley and matured in ex-bourbon casks. The second was released in 2016, distilled from 167 ppm barley and matured in ex-bourbon and Grenache Blanc white wine casks. Then the third 10-year old release from late 2018 was where things started to get complicated, with port, cognac, ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks all thrown into the mix. Then we arrive at this fourth release of a 10-year old Octomore, distilled from 208 ppm barley (the highest in a 10-year old to date) and bottled in late 2020. Frankly the cask recipe for this one seems a bit of a complicated jumble! There were 77 casks in total in the vatting: 46 of them were full-term maturation first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Then 15 first-fill ex-bourbon casks that were aged for 5-6 years then filled into second fill ex-bourbon casks for the next 4-5 years. And the remaining 16 casks started off as a 'parcel' of 20% virgin oak casks and 80% first-fill ex-bourbon casks that were finished in second-fill virgin oak that was then vatted together at 8-years of age and filled into second-fill ex-bourbon casks in 2018. That latter part is interesting because of the virgin oak influence, and because it sounds like a similar maturation recipe to the virgin oak-influenced 8.4 8-year old, up until the finishing in second-fill bourbon casks for another two years. So basically this is a combination of first-fill ex-bourbon full maturation, and first-fill ex-bourbon finished in second-fill ex-bourbon, and first & second-fill virgin oak finished in second-fill ex-bourbon. Phew! That's one hell of a mouthful, and Bruichladdich aren't holding back any of the details. These guys don't really do anything by halves!

At the time of writing this fourth iteration of 10-year old Octomore is still available in Australia, with pricing ranging from $280-320 AUD. Not exactly cheap, but $50 more than the 5-year old 12.1 from the subsequent series is not an unreasonable difference given the age difference. Like many whiskies the Octomore pricing has certainly gone through the roof over the last couple of years, particularly for the _.3 Islay Barley releases and the wine cask finished/matured _.2 editions that were once travel retail / duty free exclusive prior to the pandemic. The new fifth edition of a 10-year old Octomore that was recently released is going for 160 pounds plus shipping, which for those of us in Australia would come to around AUD$500 once customs & DHL have ruined the party by sticking their dirty fingers in the cake. Rather tellingly that new 10-year old is still available from the distillery's website at the time of writing which is well-over a month after release. That's despite only 3,500 bottles being available, and its delicious-sounding recipe of 5-years in ex-bourbon casks and 5-years in Spanish red wine casks. That's the issue with only selling directly from a distillery's website, it's fine for British and (some) European buyers who just pay the VAT and the smaller shipping charge, but once you go further afield it becomes a seriously expensive proposition for many. And when the local duty, taxes, customs and courier charges are particularly nasty like ours here in Australia, it becomes a prohibitively expensive purchase, even for hardcore fans of the distillery. Even more so when this fourth edition can still be found on local shelves for far less money and significantly less trouble. 

So, Octomore 10-year old Fourth Edition. Distilled 2009 from Scottish barley peated to 208 ppm and bottled in late 2020 at 54.3% ABV, naturally without chill filtration or added colouring. Let's see how it goes!

Octomore 10-Year Old, Fourth Edition, 54.3%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2009 from 208 ppm barley, bottled late 2020 alongside 11-series. Matured in combination of first-fill ex-bourbon, second-fill ex-bourbon, and virgin oak finished in second-fill ex-bourbon. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Creamy, citrus-y and smoky. Creamy caramel fudge, dried orange, sharp lemon, meaty & herbal dry peat smoke, and sweet charred wood. Raw fatty smoked bacon, dark chocolate, touch of aniseed and black pepper, toasted coconut. Icing sugar and creamy peach yoghurt around the edges. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Thick, creamy & syrupy. Sweet & smoky. Warming, but no heat. 

Taste: Syrupy sweet entry with charred & caramelised wood & creamy caramel fudge. Then thick ashy peat smoke, dark chocolate, burnt smoked bacon and dried orange. Touches of aniseed and leather in the background. Some peach & nectarine in there too. 

Finish: Medium length. Thick smoke carries through, then the creamy lactic sweetness returns with that creamy caramel fudge. Vanilla pokes through here, as does white chocolate and a little more peach & nectarine, plus a little sea salt. Charred wood & black pepper to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Very Bruichladdich, with that creamy & sugared lactic note, and the citrus and subtle salt showing through nicely - even in a 10-year old Octomore where the barley was smoked to within an inch of it's life! Really this is a grown up version of one of the 5-year old _.1 Octomores, a little calmer, a little more life experience, but with plenty of character and still packing a punch - in terms of phenols, but also with that creamy & viscous texture that helps to hide the ABV very well on the palate. This 10-year old 4th Edition is not the most "out there" or extreme Octomore in terms of flavour or cask influence (looking at you, 10.4!), but there's plenty of character on offer and while the wood influence is definitely noticeable, it's well balanced against the smoke and creamy sweetness. If memory serves this 10-year old is significantly smokier than the 11.1 from the same series and the 12.1 that came later, despite both of those being half the age. And that's not usually the case when comparing a 10-year old to one of the 5-year old upstarts. 

I was ready to be underwhelmed by this one, if I'm honest. Or at least unmoved by it. Mainly because of the virgin oak involvement, and the relatively conservative casks that made up the remainder of the recipe, and also because of the number of 10-year old Octomores that we've seen lately and the hefty price tags that came along with them. But I should've known better. Satisfying, sweet & smoky Octomore that shows the distillery character nicely, and has carried its age quite well by rounding off the edges. Very nice. 

Cheers!

Lagavulin 12 Year Old 2020 Whisky Review!

Since the 2021 Special Releases are (finally) getting closer to Australian shores, it's high time that I reviewed my winner of the 2020 line-up, the mighty Lagavulin 12.

Lagavulin 12-year old does seem to be attracting more attention over the last couple of years, but compared to the more "shiny" releases from other distilleries it is still sitting in the shadows. This Islay stalwart's "Offerman Editions" are getting the lion's share (pun intended) of social media & PR glory these days, which makes no sense to me. The 12-year old is the only accessible cask strength Lagavulin, for one, and - in terms of attainable official bottlings at least - some of these releases are quite possibly the best examples of a spirit-driven peated Islay whisky that you'll find anywhere. The amount of distillery character on show, and the magnificent oily texture, and certainly the natural presentation (cask strength and no colouring or chill filtration) make it a far better example of Lagavulin than just about anything, unless you're lucky enough to get to the distillery for a Feis Ile or Jazz Festival bottling, or you've taken part in one of Ian McArthur's legendary warehouse tastings. If you're sold on Islay whisky but have moved away from the likes of Lagavulin 16 and the 8-year old in favour of bigger whiskies from other distilleries, get yourself a bottle of the 12-year old. Add water if needed and let it breathe both in the glass and in the bottle, and you'll be well-rewarded. This whisky deserves much more attention than it receives!

The 12-year old does vary with each annual release, and as you'd expect some are better than others. But I'm yet to taste a "bad" one! Luckily for us in Australia they have been reasonably easy to obtain, although supply was more sporadic in the past - the 2015 and 2016 iterations were never imported into Australia, which I suspect was because the importers over-ordered the 2014 release which then took a long time to sell through. The latter of those two lapses in the series did hurt Australian fans a little more than usual, since the 2016 release was the distillery's 200th anniversary bottling, which was as delicious as you'd expect. Thankfully a few Australian retailers did parallel import (bypassing the local distributors) a small amount of stock, but the numbers were low, and the prices were high as a result. Regardless of your location, if you did manage to get your hands on either of those, then you've done well! Thankfully from 2017-on we've seen a steady supply of Lagavulin 12 down under, and that year also happened to be one of the best that we've seen in recent years - previously reviewed here. In my opinion the 2018 release that followed it was the low point in the series to date - still a solid whisky as they always are, but not on the same level as the other vintages that I've tasted. That 2018 release was also the last Lagavulin 12 to be presented in the "traditional" understated packaging with its brown glass, simplistic labelling and plain black carton which had featured since the debut of the 12-year old back in 2002. Thankfully the 2019 and this 2020 release that followed, with their elaborate new labels and their clear glass bottles, have both been excellent!

The 2020 Special Releases were very similar to the 2019 batch that preceded them, both in appearance as far as packaging and design, and also because they featured the exact same list of distilleries - different whiskies of course, but from the same distilleries. Notably there was no Caol Ila release in either batch, nor Port Ellen or Brora - that's probably because the dwindling stocks of the latter two are being held back for their "Prima & Ultima" mega-priced releases, but the missing Caol Ila was a little surprising. Interestingly both the 2019 & 2020 batches featured an older bottling of Mortlach, a 26-year old and then a 21-year old, which were the most expensive releases in their respective batches. Some would justifiably say they were overpriced, particularly when compared with the twin 30-year old Dalwhinnies from the same batches that were priced significantly lower. Both the 2019 & 2020 releases were themed "Rare By Nature", which is why they featured various flora & fauna on their labelling & packaging. As I'm sure most of us have already seen, the 2021 Special Releases is themed "Legends Untold", and features more "cartoony" artwork with stylised wildlife, or even mythical creatures. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, far from it - in fact I think the new packaging looks amazing, particularly on the outer tubes / outer packaging. The surprise additions to this new and (for those of us in Australia) upcoming batch are a Royal Lochnagar, an Oban and a younger virgin oak-influenced Mortlach, and like the 2019 & 2020 batches all eight releases in the series carry age statements. There's also a refill cask 8-year old Talisker that is said to be from their "smokiest reserves", which promises to be interesting. Word is the 2021 releases will finally hit Australian shores in late March (2022). I hope there's plenty of stock coming, since like almost everything lately they're going to be flying off the shelves!

On to the subject at hand. The 2020 Lagavulin 12-year old follows the same proven recipe as the twenty annual bottlings that have preceded it since 2002. Matured in refill casks (which will be refill American oak ex-bourbon hogsheads) and bottled at cask strength - 56.4% ABV in this case - without chill filtration or added colouring. There is always minimal input from the casks in these cask strength Lagavulins, which allows the oily, dirty, sweet & smoky spirit to shine through beautifully with that coastal, minerally, citrus-y character that Islay drinkers can't get enough of. Let's get to it!

Lagavulin 12-year old, 2020 release, 56.4%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in refill casks (presumably refill ex-bourbon hogsheads). Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Very pale gold. 

Nose: Big & powerful, smoky & dirty. A little nippy initially after breathing time. Aniseed, oily dirty smoke (diesel fumes come to mind!), salty & briny. Cracked black pepper, touches of dried lemon and something vegetal - as in fresh root vegetables, maybe parsnip? Dry seaweed, salmon baked in rock salt, and sweet maltiness comes through with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & very oily. Smoky, dirty & mouth-coating. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dirty oily smoke again, think diesel fumes, but there's some clean olive oil in there too. Sweet malt with ashy warm peat smoke (must be what the Port Ellen Maltings smells like!) and more of that dried lemon & thick brine. Touch of baked black olives, maybe a couple of anchovies in there too. The smoke turns a little acrid & bitter heading into the finish.   

Finish: Medium-long length. Dirty smoke and ashy peat carry through, with the black pepper and olive oil following close behind. That vegetal note returns but it's turning towards bitter here. Then the sweet maltiness and dried lemon, brine too. Slight yeasty note to finish - baked olive bread.  

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: It's possibly not the most complex or complicated example, but it's delicious regardless! I think Mezcal drinkers would be right at home here. Big dirty smoke and ashy peat, vegetal & sweet malty spirit. Just what the doctor ordered on a stormy afternoon! I feel like there's slightly more cask influence here than there was in the 2019 release, and both are far above the 2018 in quality if you ask me. Make no mistake though, this 2020 release is still very much a spirit-driven affair, we're talking about a very minor difference and it's neither a positive nor a negative.  

Lagavulin 12 always makes me wish that more Islay distilleries would let their spirit character shine more often - particularly the other two that neighbour Lagavulin on the southern shore... Yes, both do cask- or high strength examples but they're also quite cask driven - and yes I'm looking at you, Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength and Ardbeg Corryvreckan - which leaves the refill cask opportunities to the independent bottlers. Let's hope we see more of the same with the pending arrival of the Lagavulin 12 2021 in Australia. And lease keep the Lagavulin 12s coming Diageo, there's no need to mess with this winning formula! 

Cheers!