Lagavulin's Special Releases programme, run by Diageo since 2001, has periodically issued aged expressions of the Islay distillery far beyond the standard 16 year old. The 21 year old has appeared on several occasions, each release drawn predominantly from European oak sherry casks and bottled at cask strength without chill-filtration or added colour.
Lagavulin sits on the south shore of Islay between Laphroaig and Ardbeg, in a whitewashed range of buildings beside the ruin of Dunyvaig Castle. The distillery was formally founded in 1816 by John Johnston, though illicit distilling on the site predates that by decades. Long slow fermentations and unusually slow distillation in pear-shaped stills are credited with the heavy, oily spirit that takes extended ageing so well.
At 21 years the Lagavulin character — tar, brine, peat smoke — has been softened and complicated by the sherry wood without losing its identity. These releases have consistently drawn high marks from the trade press and have become collectors' items at auction, the 2012 and 2007 bottlings in particular fetching sums well above issue price.
It is a whisky that rewards patience in the glass: with a few drops of water the smoke recedes and a darker, fruitier core emerges. Drink it slowly, and at length.
