Lagavulin 2007 12 Year Old Special Releases 2020

Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange

• Nose

  Burning limes and peat fires. Sweet chocolate lime notes push through the smoke, followed by ozone-rich sea-spray and rock-pool brininess. Gomme sweetness mixes with brine and citrus: preserved lemons and lemon boiled sweets.

• Palate

  Thicker and richer than the nose suggests, with a lemon sherbet and toffee fudge kick up front. Leather and dark sweetness carry on underneath, laced with chocolate and sweet espresso, while zesty lemon and lime float on top. Earthy smoke and cocoa build along with chocolate icing sweetness.

• Finish

  Mint choc chip, damp ferns and lingering lime zest.

• Comment

  I was expecting sweet and light, but this is a richer and darker Lagavulin than you usually find in the Special Releases. Still intense and peaty, but balancing zesty seaside freshness against darker, sweeter notes. An interesting take on the 12-year-old expression.