Scotch Whisky Review #123: Lagavulin 11 Year Offerman Edition

Distillery: Lagavulin

Region: Islay

ABV: 46%

Age: 11 Year

Price: Can’t remember, think it was about $12 for a pour at a bar.

Color: 1.0, Deep Copper. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: It’s full of sweet barbecue smoke. A hint of salt comes along with it as well.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. It really reminds me of sitting around a campfire for a little too long. It’s very smoky and ashy as well as drying. There’s a hint of burnt ends as well. With some water, the ash goes away but so does just about everything else.

Finish: Long. Lots of peat and again a little ashy.

Conclusion: We’ve all had our massive meals and now we’re off to empty our wallets in a mad dash. Is there anything more American than Black Friday? Perhaps Ron Swanson is. And Swanson/Offerman loves Scotch so it’s only fitting to review his whisky today. This one starts off very nicely in the nose, it’s full of a very lovely, sweet barbecue smoke. The palate is mostly nice with notes that remind me of a smoldering campfire and burnt ends. The finish is long as heck. However, there is one big problem for me about this dram and it’s the ashy notes. It coats your tongue as you’ve had it and just lingers forever. It dries the mouth, is bitter and ultimately rather unpleasant. Were it not for the ash, this perhaps could have been a really nice dram but as it stands, it just feels like a poorly done version of Bunnahabhain Toiteach a Dhà (though it is considerably easier to pronounce). Would I buy a bottle? No.

Final Score: 74.

Scotch Whisky review #123, Islay Whiskey Review #14, Whisky Network Review #164

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.