Scotch Whisky Review #302: Lagavulin 11 Year Offerman Edition Guinness Cask Finish
Distillery: Lagavulin.
Region: Islay.
Age: 11 Year.
ABV: 46.0%
Price: $11 for a pour at Dundee Dell in Omaha, NE.
Color: 0.9, Amontillado Sherry.
Nose: It’s crazy smoky. You can smell it from a few feet away and long before the glass reaches your nose. Nothing else comes through, just smoke.
Palate: Much like the nose, it is quite smokey on the palate as well. There’s tons of smokey peat that’s married up against a dark bread note. The bread is somewhere between a nice rye bread and Guinness itself. A splash of water dampens the smoke and intensifies the bread.
Finish: Medium in length. Things get a touch sweeter with some barbecue potato chips coming through.
Conclusion: When I tried the original Offerman Edition Lagavulin, I couldn’t quite look past some of the ashy and bitter notes that comes through. Looking at the re-release, I wondered if it would be more of the same and the Guinness casks were nothing but a gimmick. It seems that, thankfully, that isn’t the case. The nose still has tons of smoke. The bitter ash in the palate has been replaced with a rather tasty bread note which is very reminiscent of Guinness itself. The finish gives a little bit of sweet barbecue to lift things up slightly. Overall, this new version seems to be a much needed improvement on the original.
Final Score: 80
Scotch Whisky Review #302, Islay Review #47, Whisky Network Review #444
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.
