Lagavulin 12y/o Special Release 2022 57.3%ABV 30ml

This has been consistently one of the best annual releases for decades. Every year Diageo releases a 12 year old Lagavulin aged in refill American oak bourbon casks and the distillate shines - the peat is more apparent than the 16 year old core release and at cask strength there is a lot more flavour. If the 16 is the Beatles, the 12 is the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin and it rocks - Its a classic . In 2022 they have tinkered with this classic formula by adding some virgin oak casks to the mix. There is a bit more sweetness to it and it lacks some of the complexity of the best vintages (some years are better than others). Still its a great whisky. I love single cask whiskies and variety but I also like the occasional classic so I hope they don't mess with it too much in the future - the 16 today is not as good as the White Horse era 16 lets hope the 12 doesn't go down in quality over time too.

Tasting notes from Lagavulin website:

Nose: Dry, with an immediate powerful smokiness; much more so than is usual with Lagavulin, with charcoal and fragrant peat massively to the fore, backed by a clean fresh base-note that suggests sea air and mineral scents. Much reduced, aromatically, with even a little water, it remains essentially unaltered.

Palate: The smooth lightly oily texture shines with sweet richness; the taste is sweet to start, then takes off with a soaring lemony acidity and a sprinkling of sea salt to add freshness. Mid-palate the fire dries the taste, which flies still higher now in its salty-smoky intensity. A dash of water rounds and sweetens but it’s the smoke that dominates.

Finish: Long, with great waves of peat-smoke, and new-fired heights of spiced and smoky intensity that last wonderfully in the aftertaste.