Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength (2022 edition)

Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength was never broken, but in 2022 Diageo decided to "fix" it anyway, adding virgin oak casks to the always reliable refill casks. Were they running short on refills? Otherwise.....??????

The venn diagram of Lagavulin Geeks (A) and People Who Love New Oak Scotch (B) looks something like this:

pic source

If you couldn't tell before, much of the current Scotch whisky business baffles me. For instance, I did not spring for the 2023 edition of this whisky, as it was finished in Don Julio tequila casks. 😐

Anyway, like this week's other two Lagavulins, today's bottle was part of a Columbus Scotch Night event.

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Region: Southern Islay
Maturation: a mix of refill bourbon casks and virgin oak casks

Age: minimum 12 years

Bottling year: 2022
Alcohol by Volume: 57.3%

Chillfiltered? probably not
e150a? probably not

(from the bottom half of my bottle)

NEAT

The nose arrives nice and lean, with oats, yeast, dirty hay, and fish market. Dark chocolate and charred beef fill the background, while barley and metal run through the edges. No new oak, nor mezcal appear in the palate, hurray! Instead it's made of kelp, charred veg, minerals, candied lemon peel, wood smoke, and extra salty dashi. The smoke rolls in heaviest in the finish, surrounding salty kelp and lemons.

DILUTED to ~48%abv, or >1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose reads louder, but simpler. Lots of cereal grains, brinier smoke, and a bouquet of citrus blossoms. The palate gets sweeter, but still massively salty. Smoky residue mingles with cinnamon and sugar toast. Sweet and simple in the finish too: peat smoke, salt, and simple syrup.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This was my favorite of the 3 during the group event, but in the head-to-head-to-head tasting at home, this was a near draw with the standard 16. The 12's nose is as stellar as ever, and the salty neat palate is great, so there's very little sign of the new oak when the whisky is at full strength. Lagavulin is a tough beast to tame. But things get very sugary once water is added, more so than any of the other 8(?) editions I've tried. I'm currently enjoying another pour right now, so it's clearly not a tragic whisky, but I'm going to wait to see what happens with future editions before I buy anymore Laga 12s. Hopefully the recipe returns to its old form, and Lagavulin steers away from a Laphroaig-like descent into cask fuckery,

Availability - Wherever fanciest people buy single malts
Pricing - Europe: $120-$170 w/o tax; Japan: $120-$150; and USA: $140-$200(!) w/o tax

Rating - 88 (when neat)