whisky review 571 - Lagavulin 16yo re-reviewed 2016 

You are the single best whisky review out there.

This Whisky gets a 100/100 for me every single time! I absolutely love it. If I could only drink one Whisky going forward it’s going to be Lagavulin 16.

This is the voice of a friend with huge experience and is really trying to help you make the best decision you can so that you have a great experience. Take advantage of this friend's knowledge and kindness. You will not be disappointed, and in fact, you will be very grateful.

Hi ralfy I am a devoted student of yours, and I have just got into peated whiskey about 6 months ago, and I must say that out of 100 + bottles of scotch I have completely changed my love for whiskey too peated whiskeys, I watched about 200 + of your videos and some over and over, I don't buy bottles of anything until I watch your videos and I don't go by points alone, but your words during the review, thank you ralfy for your dedication to single malt scotch whiskey and all you give to us scotch whiskey aneracs, please don't stop what you do, we only wish we could have a dram with you, but if I ever get to Scotland I will try and look you up for a wee dram, cheers Sir !!!

On the nose - smoke, damp leather, crackling firewood, peat, honeysuckle On the tongue - the honeysuckle dominates. It's peaty and smoky. Very smoky! Oily consistency, almost perfumy. The flavour remains on your palate long after you've finished and it fades into a delicate floral aroma, reminiscent of lilac. This is my all-time favourite whisky. You can most definitely enjoy it on its own, but I personally have it with a sweet cigar like Romeo y Julieta Mille Fleurs. Lagavulin 16 gets a 10/10 from me.

First off, Ralpy, I've watched pretty much all of your reviews and have been a fan for years. You are the best; you really put it in perspective. Lagavulin 16 is my favorite regularly available whisky. My regular is Ardbeg 10, and I enjoy Laphroaig 10 from time to time. I had a dram of Oban 14 for the first time last weekend and just bought a bottle. Looking forward to getting into it. Ralphy gave it an 84 in 2012...at least in 2016, I felt the dram I had deserves a higher rating - we'll see when I open the bottle. Three I've tried in the past few years that I didn't care for... 1) Old Pulteney 12 (bought it while trying different regions, and it's where my family is from). It was somewhat complex but just not enjoyable for me. 2) The cheapest Bowmore (it was ~ USD $30 and it was, at best, two dimensional...lots of green apple and fresh grass...like lawn kind) - That being said, I've tried Bowmore's higher end and they are excellent. For this reason, I am not giving up on Old Pulteney, even though I wasn't a fan of their 12. 3) Bunnahabhain 12 - The molasses was just there forever for me, and no matter how many times I shelved it and gave it a second chance, it was just overpowering. Again though, not giving up on Bunnahabhain just because I didn't like their 12. My favorites thus far (and I try not to spend much more than USD $100 on any bottle), in descending order: --Lagavulin 16 --Ardbeg 10 --Caol Ila 12 & Oban 14 & Laphroaig 10 I've tried the different Ardbegs and Laphroaigs (corryvrekkan, uigeadail, quarter cask, etc), and they are all great - but when I buy them, it's a deviation from their core offering, so it's tough to keep them all in memory...guess that's why Ralphy does it the way he does! I do have a bottle of Supernova 2015 that I really want to open...searching for that review now :) Enjoy responsibly! Huge Fan, Ralphy, thank you for your guidance!!!

I could listen to this chap talk all day.

Just cracked open my very first bottle of Lagavulin. I now understand the hype!

I have been through quite a selection of Scotches and without a doubt, Lagavulin is my all time favorite.

I just bought it for 50 euros which is around 38 GBP(56 USD, 71 CAD, ) AND IT IS WORTH EVERY DAM CENT.... thank you Ralfy.....absolutely loving it....

Thank you, Ralfy. Being new to single malts, I was reluctant to go the smoky, peaty, Islay malts. I tried the Lagavulin 16 and I love it. Your videos helped me make an educated purchase that made hard earned money, well spent.

It's delicious. I discovered it when I was living in London and homesick. The flavour strongly reminded me of the honey from my father's bees which I think is why I love it so much.

From one magniloquent matriculate of malt to another, gotta say, Ralfy, this review is spot on. Also, your aside on the effect of warehousing logistics on quality was eye-opening and greatly appreciated.

The lagavulin 16 is my only mainstay whisky, to me it's one of the best peated whisky's out there. It's really an accessible peated whisky, smooth and smokey and really complex. It doesn't overwhelm the tastebuds like some of the heavier ones.

Ralfy I'm going through your reviews and haven't seen a bad one yet - I have learnt so much I can't thank you enough - hope the last 4 years have been good to you kind sir

Ralfy, I love the glow from your right side. Beautiful touch for the new 2016 videos. Here in California, Lagavulin 16 is very available at Costco and is at a good price, especially when it goes on sale. As such, I've been enjoying this one for quite some time. Thanks for the re-review!

If anyone is looking for a great cigar pairing, the Lagavulin 16 with a Perdomo Small Batch Maduro is most excellent!

Enjoyed the review. I've had probably 50 bottles over the years of Lagavulin 16, can attest it's changed. I used to get a lot of ocean sea breeze and roasted seaweed in the nose but not anymore. If you can find it at costco for under $70 its still worth it. I've tried the standard lines of ardbeg, caol ilia and many islays but Lagavulin 16 and a nice balance of richness to the peat balance which I like. But wish it were as good as it was 20 years ago.

Great reviews. Thank you, Ralfy. You have confirmed what I suspected: the younger is the whiskey, the more it is has that phenolic taste. This is why younger Lagavulins are rare to get and more expensive. The common age is about 10 for most of the Islay whiskeys.

Seems a lot of less than favourable comments on this at the moment . . . I opened a bottle I got for my Bday (Feb) recently and was surprised by what I got. This was probably the 1st whisky I've had any real expectations about though - namely a bit of a rich, smoky, peaty thing, something 'like' Uigeadail. 1st impressions were of a rather thin spirit that didn't seem to deliver any of the above, perhaps a bit of a smoky taste. However, realising I was perhaps skewing my judgement I thought I'd reassess with a more open and enquiring mind . . . First off - adding water was a no no! Just thinned it out too much. A bit of air time really helped bring out the sweeter notes. Definite peat/smoke and sweet notes on the nose but not as heavy as say an Ardbeg. I actually really liked the taste - reminiscent of licorice torpedoes at first then a wave of smoke followed by smoky tea and dry notes. A touch of bakers ginger in there as well. Very pleasant. I know Ralfy isn't a fan of 'smooth' so I'll say it went down remarkably easy - no harsh notes whatsoever. Like standing over the penny tray in a sweet shop whilst the living room out back burns and peat smoke creeps through the door! Sorry for long post but this one puzzled me and I feel I've learned a valuable lesson or 2! Avoid Having expectations or pre-judging a whisky and be prepared to give it some time, and at least a few nips before drawing any conclusions. Overall, enjoyable but feel it is over-priced. Seems like batch quality isn't so consistent and a higher abv and NCF would really help this imo!

Only just discovered your channel, you are brilliant.

Unless you have an older bottle and are doing a side-by-side, I don't pay any mind to "not like it used to be". Our palettes, like our opinions, are so fickle.

Thanks for the review Ralfy. I wished that we could of had more of a comparison to your previous bottles but at least this bottle has withstood the quality creep that so many other have been unable to.

Islay single malts are what made me fall in love with scotch. Ardbeg 10 was my introduction but everything Islay I've tried has been magical and wonderful.

Another enjoyable Ralfy review and video. I appreciate the depth, quality, and wealth of your wisdom, so much so that I'd watch even if I had no interest in whisky. Excellent work. Keep it up.

"One final comment... no not really." and then he goes on to make 5 more comments. haha. Love you Ralfy.

The smell of this is just amazing. Fills the whole room.

I was cleaning out the loft with my dad recently and we came across a lot of miniatures, among which was a 5cl of Lagavulin 16yr old. He had marked the date he received many of these bottles and the Lagavulin was dated 1997. Currently sampling it just now, it's quite nice, but has an extremely strong flavour!

You remind me of my late grandpa. Such a treat listening to you speak, tell stories and give words of wisdom. Thank you!

please tell me you'll be reviewing that tin of haggis!

I bought this in around 1990, as one of my first “proper” single malts. I was only young then, and tasting it was almost as shock. My first impression was that I did not like it so I left the bottle, didn’t touch it. So when my father came to visit I poured him a drink and his first expression was that his face lightened up and he expressed that he absolutely loved it, that it was fantastic. I was surprised of this but as I knew he was “a more experienced drinker” he knew what he was talking about so I approached the bottle with more respect. I think when I got down to about half the bottle I was sold. The whisky was the best I ever experienced and I was amazed. Anyway I now know that this 1990 tax free bottling was different than the Lagavulin 16 we can buy now. So I regularly bought Lagavulin’s like the DE bottlings and others. But the regular 16 was not seen that often so I didn’t buy one for a long time. Anyway I recently ordered a 16 from Master of Malt. I opened it a couple of weeks ago and when compared to the competition like Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig 10 and the likes I was disappointed. I did not recognise the Lagavulin 16 from 2021 with the 1990 version that I remembered. It tasted almost perfumed, not sure what happened to this whisky? So I left it for a while. Next drink I had I still felt it had a weird taste, something artificial and perfumed? But I kept going and when I got down to half the bottle I started to enjoy it. The weird taste is gone, and the peat, smoke and burnt taste takes the upper hand. So I still feel that the 1990 version was better, but I still enjoy Lagavulin 16 a lot. So I decided to buy some more bottles as I am sure I will learn to love the new version., just too bad it’s become so expensive… Then again so is every whisky aged to 16!

Ralfy. You have brought my appreciation of whisky to a new dimension single handedly. Thank you

Here it is, November 2018 and about to pick up my first bottle of Lagavulin 16. Wish me luck...

Hi ralfy I'm back, and I just drank a shot of laguvulan 16 year old 🤪, and I love peated whiskeys I give this bottle 🍼 of laguvulan a 90 points, but as you have stated in your review it's an acquired taste, I have 7 bottles of the laguvulan's of different ages, I love 💘 them all, thanks for your reviews on laguvulan whiskeys, keep up the good work, cheers Sir !!!

Hey Ralfy, thanks for all the time you spend reviewing these single malts. I know it takes a great deal of time, so thank you. I just picked up a bottle of this and it's a great malt. I am really enjoying Islay whisky and this is a really good one.

For me, in 2024, Laggy is medicinal, like Laphroaig 10, but even more so. In fact, I am not surprised people can confuse the two in blind tastings. Surprisingly, for my nose, Laphroaig 10 is less hospital than Lagavulin 16. The Laggy has the Band Aid and putty notes. "Just sharing. So's you know." Love it, Ralphy! P.S. Whisky makes you smarter. I didn't know what a bothy was before watching Ralphy. I looked it up and now I know. So I'm ready for a crossword puzzle or Scrabble game. Whisky makes you smarter!

Maybe time for a re-review again, 5 years on?

You failed you mention the fact that it has added colourant (E150).

Will forever have a soft spot for Lagavulin. One of the legends of the industry and the all time great drams. Ownership may not be what it once was… but the future may change that.

The 12 year cask strength is my favorite whiskey, and I do believe you gave it a very high rating of 91! I just wanted you share with you that I heard the reason you never store whiskey bottles sideways is so the liquid never touches the cork because the cork can flavor the whiskey in an undesirable fashion like a "corked" wine. Another reason is that the high alcohol percentage can break down soft cork and dry it out, adding disintegrated cork to your whiskey, unwanted flavor, and like you mentioned eventually leaking. All bad things that can be easily avoided. One more thing that I learned to use is a wine vacuum corking device on my more precious open bottles. I was told the extra air in the bottle and time exposed to air will heavily change the characteristics of the whiskey and storing the bottle under a vacuum will best preserve the original whiskey's integrity. I think you might have mentioned that as well during another review, but I thought I'd bring it up again. Just sharing. Thanks for the review Ralfy!

Time for a 2020 re-review of this popular staple to see if the trend of refurbishing casks has continued?

Still my favorite after 25 years... Lagavulin has so much more depth than the other heavily peated whiskys - far from a novelty.

I used to really love Lagavulin 16. I got a bottle late last year, and halfway down it's nowhere near as enjoyable as I remember it from only a few years ago. It used to sparkle in my mouth! Now it just sits there. The peat has a much weaker flavor than it used to. I'm still picking up some fruity and licorice notes, but I get the impression that the aftertaste falls flat rather than lingering on... It's not like the Lagavulin has become a *bad* whisky, but I would prefer a Laphroaig quarter cask or a Port Charlotte any day for my money.

Thank you ralfie. We were tasting this very whisky whilst watching and enjoying your review, which, I have to say, we enjoyed very much. We are only 2 year old malt mates, but could certainly discern the subtle saltiness, and moscavado. I got the slight mintiness as well. Were you thinking the sweet celery note was Angelica. I thought I could detect a subtle rummy raisin as well. Anyway, really enjoyed, thank you ralfie, your review enhanced our enjoyment of our glass, which incidentally was a glenmorangie tasting glass from the distillery itself. Regards.

Great review Ralfy, I've been enjoying a little of this from time to time as well.

Latakia pipe tobacco helped me get ovet my 30 year addiction to cigarerrets. Good peated whisky helped me to get off latakia. I have😊n't smoked scince the mid '80's.

(This will be sacrilege to some, but) I've been experimenting with blending Lagavulin (or any heavily peated whiskey) with a nice American rye, or multigrain. I'm in the "please more flavor" spectrum, so it's definitely not an adventure for everyone, but for those who ask for more in all flavor experiences, it's a worthwhile experiment. (So far... but, exploring whiskey, even wrongly sometimes, is a worthwhile experiment. Isn't it?)

One of the best i had recently, this makes me want to buy another bottle. Cheers Ralfy

Beautiful, smoky and intense Islay malt. My favourite😋

I love the deep smoke and how thick it is, I would have given it 1-2 more points here in Iceland because it is a perfect winter dram :) anyways thumbs up for a good review

This stuff is amazing. Takes a real man to sip this

I don't drink Whiskey really. Certainly not to this depth. But I was doing research on Glenfiddich for an ad campaign I was doing a while ago. I stumbled across your channel and ever since I check back in. I find your reviews very interesting. Even as someone who only drinks Jack Daniels and coke on a Friday night. haha.

lapsang suchong tea is smoked during processing, which gives it that "camp fire" taste. love lagavulin 16

I very much enjoy the reviews. Very novice but have had a little love affair with Tobermory 15 and it has given me a toehold into fancying a random chat up with other fun spirits. I come here to see what might be something that will not go to waste. Thank you for explaining things in the fashion i can enjoy. I don't care about fashion. I just like what tastes lovely.

A good follow up review Ralfy. The new bottles still taste essentially the same, still like Lagavulin 16YO, but the bottles I had a few years ago were fuller, richer, more rounded tasting and with more mouth feel. It's still good, but not as satisfying as it was.

I understand what you mean. My cousin had a bottle of Glenlivet 12 from the early 90's in his cabinet. It was much more complex than the bottle I had purchased earlier that month. Scotch is much more in demand these days so quality has been tossed aside. This is not to say that the Scotch is bad; it could be much better and not so hurried.

Oh my god, I've just noticed the haggis and the Dalek. Legend.

I noticed Ralfy's mark for Lagavulin 16 droppped from 90 to 87 over the recent years.

I enjoyed both of these reviews - thank you as always. One thing I did notice is that for the re-review, your initial remarks were made after adding water, where as in the initial one, you went straight from the bottle. I am hoping that at some point, you or one of the (few) good reviewers, will do a side-by-side on the modern Laga 16 and the one from the 1980s. An expensive proposition, I expect. If you know of one, I'd love the link. This was when I first tasted Laga and to be honest, I just think the new iteration is harsher and less balanced, but it was sooooooooo long ago. Thank you again!

This is my favorite whisky, any other with same personality?

My absolute GOTO dram...love it!

I love Lagavulin! Although I disagree that peaty whisky is an acquired taste because I instantly loved peated whisky the first time I tasted it! The Ileach (cask strength) is also good but you have to splash enough water to it to reduce the harshness but too much water will mute the flavor.

just picked this up at costco for ($58.99). First experience with a single malt with this much smoke/peat. Loved it!! Up until this point I would have told you my favorite scotch blended/single malt would have been green label/Macallan 12yr... I think this replaces both those even though it is completely different. thanks for the reviews ralfy.

Recently had a Lag 16 in Alaska. 15 for a double no less. Hard to give an opinion as my bartender who was having a rough day used the soda dispenser water and filled half the glass with it instead of chilled water with a spon on the side. Oh well. Tasted like warm beer haha.

I enjoyed the peat, love the deep, smoky taste. TAKES OUT THE FIRE but LEAVES IN THE WARMTH!. Love the Dalek on the shelf.

Made me really crave some Lagavulin. Looking forward to getting home from work and pouring a dram of my 97/13 distiller's edition

The first whisky I got. I got it for my 20th birthday 3 years ago, now sipping it. It's peppery/numbing/heating/spicy. Even though it's 43% it feels higher ABV/spicier than a cask strength 51.4% Nikka from the Barrel. But yeah it's good whisky. I'm not the biggest peat fan. I like sweeter unpeated whiskies more (for now at least). Just got a bottle of GlenAllachie 12 YO.

I really like Lagavulin 16 very much. But I consider it a luxury experience, and therefore do not drink it often. A more affordable Islay single malt that is readily available where I live is Bowmore. But the best value for money in my opinion is Blended scotches. They are so many out there with flavour profiles to suit the majority of tastes.

I had that set of Six Classic Single Malts miniatures(~20 y.a.) and Lagavulin 16 was really shockingly amazing!!! Two years later I got a regular (750ml) Lagavulin 16. It was good but "no magic". Bought one last week. =)

This whisky really is like nectar of the gods for me personally. Mouth waters just thinking about it.

great review as always Ralfy one of my favorite whiskeys

one of my favorites

Just brought a bottle home. Love it.

My favourite single malt!

i can still taste the finish and my glass is in the dishwasher.

Lagavulin 16 + juicy steak/gravy/potatoes/veggies = heaven

Have to agree. Tried a Laga16 recent and was let down. It was too light on the nose and predominated by apple like a Glenfiddich 12, was very sweets, but no peat. The peat was in the background when tasted and again too sweet forward. Overall was very disappointed. My last memory of this dram was the smell of freshly paved road and big pit fire smoke on the palate. Now it's unrecognizable.

As per one source, the name Lagavulin is an anglicisation of Lag a' Mhuilinn, the Scottish- Gaelic for 'hollow of the mill'. Love these reviews!

Too bad Lagavulin ruin their product by adding fake coloring... I usually buy Ardbeg as they do not add e150a caramel

My first glass of this tonight and I love it.... The first Scotch I ever tasted was Laphroig 10 y.o. It took forever to get over that experience, that was too much too soon in my journey of Scotch Whisky. But, seeking knowledge and understanding about all whiskies, I learned about the five regions, basically, five flavor types of Scotch Whisky, of which there are many variables...... So, 2 years ago, I really started experiencing Scotches from all regions,,,, Fast forward,,,, I simply love this Lagavulin 16Y.O. Scotch. I will say sweet, great peat flavor, minty, yes minty to me, and not hard to get along with,,, I do not need to try to convince myself to like it...But, I need to find a Smokier one now, maybe the Lagavulin 12Y.O.????? Any help?????

Back when Lagavulin was affordable.

Thank you for your excellent channel. I had a bottle of this 10 years ago and absolutely loved it. I had a bottle (200cl) this afternoon and was overwhelmed by a strong whiff of TCP. The whiskey was still characteristically smooth rich in flavour. I have read up on this and it appears that this can be a characteristic of maturation beside the sea. i’d be most interested to hear your point of view. Cheers in anticipation

There is Lagavulin and there is everything else

Thanks Ralfy. Three comments: 1) I am not really a fan of Lagavulin 16 yo. Too heavy, lacks some elegance and finesse. Just my opinion. 2) I suggest you explore the issue of cork in the future. It would be interesting to hear more from you. Cork vs plastic has been a serious issue in the wine industry. Where comes cork from, when used in whisky bottles? Cork is a major question here in Portugal. It might look a non-issue for Scottish people and for the whisky industry, but I am not certain. Please question some producers about it and tell us something. 3) Canned haggis on the shelf behind you? Is it good? haha :D

One Ralfy did not mention, is how good the price-to-quality ratio is on this one. Every time I see something similar (peated, sherry whisky) it tends to cost more, yet the quality is comparable at best. It's probably coming down do the mass-production that makes it cheaper, but hell - I don't really mind. On this one, I also really love how it changes when you leave it in a glass and smell it. Starts with heavy peat, then opens up and brings the sherry notes. After a while you hardly notice the smoke smell, and it actually acts as a carriage for the other notes (dried fruit, sherry, vanilla from oak). Very comparable whisky would be BenRiach Heredotus Fumosus, although slightly sharper and peppery on the tongue. Probably because it's been matured shorter, in bigger casks. A good whisky nevertheless.

Not complaining, but this video hit me with 4 ads at various points throughout. Only mention it because you were talking recently about the ad settings. Google’s messing with you! :) Great review, as always.

Love listening to you discuss the science as I enjoy a malt moment of my own tonite.... Doing a bit of personal malt blending between a nice healthy mid sized dram of Speyburn 10 at 43%ABV, and just a little drizzle of Ardbeg 10 46%. Interestingly the tasting notes you're getting are eerily similar to my odd little malt mix I have going on here..... I'm getting some wonderful smoky barbecue pepper notes in this experimental dram as well too........ HAPPY NEW YEAR RALPHY!!

I know Ron Swanson will be tuning in for this whisky review. We all know what he thinks of this stuff! XD

I’m a strictly bourbon guy… I bought a bottle of this and it’s pretty dang good! It’s like a smoked meat with some mint. Compared to bourbon which is like a sweet dessert… might need to dig into more scotches!

in my opinion not what it was 4 years ago, but better than the more recent past, but in relation to curreent prices its not exactly bad value - in common with some other malts it has lost a lot of the spices that you get with proper mediumterm maturation in my opinion, also Sainsburys used to do a version of Lagavulin for its own brand Islay malt which problably won't be a collector's item

Great stuff Ralfy, I was hoping you would re-review this one. Are you planning on doing any Glenfiddich re-reviews? their entire range has new packaging and its making me wonder has the product changed too.

I disagree with adding water personally. It opens up a more bitter characteristic to me that i dont find pleasing. Great review.

I’ve just subscribed to your RU-vid channel and I’m loving your reviews.

I first had it 15 years ago and it was very good. 5 years ago I was disappointed as the peat was much less., but it was richer and sweeter. so still good, but in a different way The last bottle I bought a few days ago is a total let down. It' very peaty ,again, but less polished.. very hot (peppery), harsh almost undrinkable for me... I'd never guess it's a 16 yo. Definitely the last Lagavulin I'll ever buy.

Just bought my first Lagavulin/peated whiskey, I haven't taste it yet. I kept hearing great things for the 16.

I'm keeping mine cold and in their boxes/cans, after pouring a dram I always give it a press of private preserve, and I have to say, it seems to work well, I have an Uigeadail that's about 2/3 empty by now, it's around 8 months and still tastes like the first dram.

Who know how celery smells?! Even you've have smelled it once or twice in your life time, how can you recall it so vividly as to make the connection with such certainty. Unless you regularly go buy, cut and purposefully smell celery (and dried figs for that matter)

The Distillers Edition is indeed superb, my dram bargain of last year was finding a camp site bar in Cumbria selling Lagavulin 16 for £2 a dram, to say I indulged would be an understatement.

dont know if i was lucky but my batch was amazing much like that of yesteryear batch began with l6155 but was similar too johnnie walker black but more notes to it even leathery tastes seemed unreal i suspect newer casks were involved but this was somthing different to the newer stuff i have tasted recently

Wonderfully entertaining reviews, I love them!