Lagavulin 12 Years Pure Islay Malt White Horse Distillers Aged 12 Years on neck label late 1970's bottling 43% Late 70's

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Serge Valentin (94)

Colour: amber with orange hues. Nose: ah yes! Rounded and rather on orange marmalade at very first nosing, but getting sharp and magnificently peaty after that. The kind of ‘mingled’ peatiness that you only find in very old bottles of Lagavulin or Laphroaig, more rarely in Ardbeg. That involves old tar liqueurs, various herbs, some coal, old car engine, the famous tarry ropes, some mint… Now, there’s rather less fresh tropical fruits than usual in this magnificent nose, let’s hope the palate is still in good shape. Mouth: but yes! Exceptionally tarry and peaty, smooth and sweet but firm, salty, resinous, leathery, coastal… Especially the notes of bitter oranges are exceptional here. But beware of maltoporn, better stop now. Finish: no comments. Comments: to be honest, this one seems to be a tad sweeter than other versions on the palate but it’s just as magnificent globally. Imagine they were struggling to sell it forty years ago! I’ve even heard that some distributors used to offer one or two bottles for free for each case of cheap rum that was bought. Insane times.