I’ve
been starting to struggle a bit with my whisky procurement matrix of
late. The latest round of difficulty came with trying to step my
Islay experience up a notch with the purchase of something aged
between 14 and 17 years. The problem is, much as I’m a fan of the
produce of the island of Islay, the prices can be a bit prohibitive.
Can it be that reputations lead these whiskies to be somewhat
overpriced?
So
what are we looking at? There isn’t a Caol Ila option in this age
category, and I’ve already tried the 18. If
there were a Caol Ila 15 or 16 say, it would certainly be in
contention… actually, since writing that sentence (and indeed,
since making my purchase), it turns out there is now an unpeated 15
year old Caol Ila, and it sells for around £90. That’s probably a
bit much, unless I can get a deal on it somewhere.
Bowmore
do a 15 year old that goes by the name, Darkest, but I don’t
find Bowmore all that inspiring and at £55, it was perhaps a step
too far.
Being
between the standard ages of 10 to 12 years and 18 plus, the category
I was looking for is an awkward one. Most distilleries – Ardbeg,
Laphroiag, Bunnahabhain – don’t offer anything in the range
(though you can locate a vintage or merchant bottling if you’re
feeling flush), Kilchoman don’t have any spirit that old yet, and
Bruichladdich, while they make excellent whisky, price themselves a
bit above a region I feel comfortable with.
That
leaves just one, doesn’t it? Ah yes, Lagavulin. Of course, we’re
all well aware of the excellent Lagavulin 16. I’ve tried it and
loved it, and bought it as a gift before, but I’ve never bought it
for myself. It was an obvious choice and, for that reason, one I did
my best to avoid. I just wasn’t getting drawn in by anything else
though. There was a Bowmore 17 White Sands, which I skipped
over for the same reasons I’d dismissed the Darkest, and a
Port Askaig 15. I’m dubious about the Port Askaig releases because
they don’t tell you which distillery produced their whisky, and £75
is a bit much for such sleight of hand – though since writing that
sentence I heard that Jim Murray had scored a Port Askaig
well into the high 90s in his 2016 edition, and indeed made it one of
his whiskies of the year. One to try another time, then – in spite
of how frequently I disagree with Murray’s appraisals.
Next
I was looking at vintage bottlings – a 1998, 15 year old, unpeated
Caol Ila… tempting, but £80 again? Maybe not. What about a couple
of Lagavulin Distillers Editions? Again, you’re looking at more
than £75 when you factor in P&P. In the end, I just couldn’t
see anything that seemed better value or a better bet than the
classic 16 year old Lagavulin. At £48.46 from Amazon, you can be
sure you’re getting quality (though I later learned I could have
saved 10 quid by getting it at Costco), and the question of whether
you want to push your spends over 70 quid can be deferred until a
later date – like next month, when my procurement matrix has
suggested I should get an 18 plus year old Highland malt. We’ll see
about that. I think I’m clearly reaching my threshold because,
frankly, you don’t need to spend that much money to get great
whisky. But every now and then, I just might.
Now,
you can see from the picture that the ‘vulin 16 (as I think I’ll
call it) is beautifully presented. Brown bottle, tasteful labelling,
and a classy navy blue box with gold leaf lettering. It certainly
looks and feels the part.
Crack
that bottle open, and you get the unmistakable whiff of peat that
promises a cosy evening. It emerges from the bottle like a genie and
makes sure everyone in the room knows it’s there.
In
the glass it looks the part too, but that is aided perhaps by the
addition of caramel spirit. I really don’t know why they bother
doing that – especially since the tinted bottle means you’re not
going to turn your nose up at the spirit before you’ve even decided
to buy it.
It’s
bottled at 43% instead of the preferable 46, but it oozes class all
the way – and you don’t have to worry about whether you should be
adding water (don’t).
On
the tongue it’s sweet and lingering, and it might just come back to
visit you the next day… a real bonus taste.
So
in all, as long as I don’t think about how much I could have saved
at Costco, I got my money’s worth with the ‘vulin 16. I didn’t
learn anything I didn’t know before, but at least I’ve bought
myself a bottle of this now, which is something any serious whisky
drinker should have on their hypothetical bucket list.
