Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks

This is the second part of a two-part review of 5 Lagavulin Feis Ile bottles. Here’s a link to Part 1.

With the 2017, 2018, and 2019 out of the way let’s head towards greatness: 2015 & 2016. I’ll pour a bit of the 2018 (winner from the first part) to get a total order of all five.

Tasted on 1/20/2021, neat in a Glencairn, then a touch of water.

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Lagavulin 18 Year Feis Ile 2016

The 2016 festival bottling, for their 200th anniversary. Moved to 250ml bottles early on, the one pictured is all that remains. Aged in refill American oak hogsheads and European oak ex-bodega sherry butts.

Distillery: Lagavulin

Bottler: Distillery Bottling

Region: Scotland, Islay

ABV: 49.5%, cask strength

Age: 18 years old. Bottled in 2016.

Cask type: American Oak and ex Bodega European Oak casks

Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. #945 of 6,000 bottles.

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Nose: damp, earthy peat and smoke. Sweet lemon, tangerine. Sea spray, seaweed, warm sand, fairly mineral. Eucalyptus, mint. Lightly medicinal, camphor. With time it gets more medicinal and mineral. Now some raisins and figs. A bit of sulphur. Cooking oil. A bit of wax. Some nuts. Old rope.

Taste: big, rich earthy smoke. Sweet lemons. Very mild pepper. Mineral oil. Medium-thick mouthfeel, coats well. Seawater. Medicinal w/ camphor, iodine. A touch of tar. Some mint.

Finish: earthy peat smoke. Sweet lemon, tangerine. Sea water, salty. Mineral oil. Eucalyptus, very mild pepper. Medicinal. Tea. Quite long with the smoke and citrus lingering.

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This is a beautiful dram. It’s surprising that cask strength on this is just 49.5% after 18 years. The nose opens more and more with time; I get something new each time I go back to it. It is complex, rich, great mouthfeel, and, well… brilliant. Tons of maritime and medicinal notes, and it gets more medicinal the longer it sits. A nice, subtle sherry influence doesn’t dominate at all. The finish is long and delicious, with lots of smoke and citrus hanging around long after the last sip.

This doesn’t need any water, though I did add a couple of drops at the end “for science.” It brings the fruit up a bit more, but otherwise it’s very similar, and takes a little water well, but I wouldn’t honestly add any again.

Final Score: 96.

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Lagavulin 24 Year Feis Ile 2015

The 2015 festival bottling, distilled in 1991 (oh yea!) This is bottle 343 of only 3,500. Moved to a 375ml bottle a while ago, and I didn’t bother to save the original. This was “triple matured” in some undisclosed combination and/or sequence of American oak, Pedro Ximenez, and oak puncheons.

Distillery: Lagavulin

Bottler: Distillery Bottling

Region: Scotland, Islay

ABV: 59.9%, cask strength

Age: NAS. Distilled in 1991. Bottled on 03/20/2015.

Cask type: American Oak, Pedro Ximénez & Oak Puncheons

Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. #343 of 3,500 bottles.

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Nose: deep, earthy, smoldering peat smoke. Seawater, wet rocks at the beach. Candle wax. Quite medicinal w/ iodine, camphor, cough syrup. Tar, warm rubber. Lemons, some raisins, figs. Vanilla. Wet leaves, cedar. Walnuts. Old leather. With Water: the smoke is bigger, and it’s even more medicinal. Wow! Some smoldering hospital in there now, a bit of sulphur, more PX.

Taste: big, big smoke, smoldering peat. Sweet lemons and rind, candied peel. A bit dry. Seawater. Salty. Mild pepper. Very medicinal; iodine, camphor. A bit herbal. Thick, rich mouthfeel. Oily. Tar. Walnuts. Waxy for sure. Raisins. Cocoa. With Water: a bit more lemon and spices, more chocolate, more tar, wax, nuts, a touch of sulphur.

Finish: big, earthy, peat smoke, still smoldering. Sweet citrus. Salty seawater. Very medical, camphor, eucalyptus. Herbal. Waxy. A bit dry. PX sherry. Very long. With Water: even more smoke, more medicinal, waxy, beautiful sherry, some sulphur. The balance in this finish is stunningly good, and I’m getting most of the notes long, long afterwards.

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Holy hell.

The nose is superbly complex. It continues to open up and I find something new even after an hour in the glass. Perfectly balanced with some of the richest peat, beautiful smoke, complex maritime and medicinal notes, and rich sherry. The palate and finish are brilliant. Super-long, and again complex and balanced with that smoldering peat everywhere, big medicinal and sea notes, and the sherry is perfectly integrated. This is just fine without water even at 59.9%. Add a small splash and it gets bigger in every way.

This is a top five dram for me. Exemplary Lagavulin. Perfect.

Final Score: 100.

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Comparison

Order: 2015 > 2016 > 2018 > 2019 > 2017

These are two brilliant Feis Ile releases from Lagavulin. The 2015 is a stand out, with the 2016 close behind. Both are amazing and show just how brilliant Lagavulin can be.

I re-tasted the 2018 alongside of these, and they both overshadow the 2018 for sure. It’s an excellent dram in it’s own right, as noted in Part 1, and no one should walk away thinking the 2018 is sub-par or anything like that. No change in notes or score.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.