Review by: The Muskox
Cadenhead describes their Enigma series of bottlings as “unusual, hard to quantify, perhaps even slightly contradictory”. I describe them as “usually pretty good value for excellent indie malts”. This one is a mystery Islay, locally available for a very friendly $200 CAD.
Distillery: Mystery! (but unofficially, Lagavulin).
Bottler: Cadenhead’s.
Region/Style: Islay single malt.
ABV: 54.8%. Cask strength.
Age: 15 years. Distilled in 2008. Bottled in August 2024.
Cask type: Ex-bourbon hogsheads.
Price: $200 locally.
Colour: No colour added. Non-chill-filtered
Nose: Big peat smoke – ashy, spicy, and rich. Smashed shells, smoked pork, sea salt, and rice vinegar. Some sweeter and fruitier notes of red apple and peach, as well as a little powdered sugar.
Palate: Medium body. Arrives sweet with citrus peels, then developing to rich peat smoke and luscious savoury flavours of seared steak, scallops, and black pepper, along with strong dark chocolate.
Finish: Deep smoke and more sweet seafood, now with a hint of iodine. More chocolate and icing sugar.
Conclusion: The instant I stuck my nose in the glass, I shouted “Lagavulin!”. Some quick Googling seems to confirm that this whisky is, in fact, a Lagavulin in all but name. Anyways. This absolutely hit the spot. Amazing rich peat, great power, no heat or intense wood or ash. The complexity came through even trying this at the end of a long tasting session. In my rather limited experience with the distillery, this is probably my favourite Lagavulin ever.
By the end of the glass, I said to the guys, “this is awesome, and I haven’t been giving out enough 90s lately!”. So there we are.
Final Score: 90.
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.
Malt Runners 