Lagavulin 25 Years Old 200th Anniversary 2016 Bottling

Lagavulin

With 2.5 million bottles sold, Lagavulin is one of Scotland’s biggest selling peated whiskies. A name synonymous with all things Diageo, Lagavulin has been attached to the company since White Horse Distillers joined hands with Distillers Company Limited in 1927. A key component of the famed white horse blends for almost 100 years, Lagavulin’s smoky character was an important milestone for single malt expressions. Named as one of the ‘Classic Malts’ by Diageo, the incredibly famous 16 year old expression was first launched in 1988 and has been mostly unchanged for over 35 years. Other editions of Lagavulin have been seen more recently with different age ranges including an 8 year old, 12 year old and even a special 11 year old edition bottled in collaboration with actor Nick Offerman, a huge fan of the distillery who’s character Ron Swanson in the show Parks & Recreation was often seen drinking Lagavulin 16. 
 
With around 2.6 million litres of alcohol produced each year, the vast majority of Lagavulin’s stock is reserved for its hugely popular 16 year old expression. Unique releases of the distillery are few and far between with the exception of the typically yearly 12 year old cask strength commonly featured in Diageo’s special releases. However, Diageo often champions this distillery when it comes to festivals, releasing an annual bottling for the Islay Feis Ile festival as well as the Islay Jazz festival. Lagavulin typically matured in a combination of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks, with the latter being more common in its vattings. Lagavulin is also rarely seen in a single cask format, with Diageo instead choosing to sell excess stock of Caol Ila to blenders and independent bottlers. However, a number of private casks have been selected by wealthy clients bottled under the “Cask Of Distinction” label. These single cask expressions are reserved for key clients of Diageo and are chosen from the very best and oldest casks stored in their warehouses.