North Sea Whisky

In the interests of science, I took today’s bottle onto a Kentish clifftop during the recent Solar eclipse. I can confirm that it held up well, and may even have improved in the eerily soft light. With such an offering, we are surely within our rights to expect a good harvest. Time will tell.

Lagavulin 12 Special Release 2017

Rating: 90 points

Nose: Raw and elemental. The spikiness of fusel oils and higher alcohols  hasn’t quite rounded out yet, I’m guessing this is as refill as it gets. It is an exciting distillate though, you’ll find all the good stuff you’d expect from a cask strength Lagavulin: piles of seaweed, wet wool, the dry sulphurous smell of dusty gravel and a dog’s fur on a hot day. It’s also intensely sweet and lactic, almost milky, very much on the distillery signature.

There’s lots of wax among all kinds of other gunky, yeast-derived smells – this effect is amplified with dilution. Water also pushes the fruitiness beyond lemons to fleshy nectarines, mandarins and juicy orange peel. Lots of smoke as well, of course, with excellent if subtle oak notes giving it structure. Fresh bread sitting by an open window and a whitecurrant bush with berries and stems warm from the sun. It’s all kinds of intense, unusual and outdoorsy. I could go on… 

A warm, salty and buttery grain backbone grows with time and water.

Palate: Prickly and hot when neat, begging for water. Dilution doesn’t get rid of all the punch, but it helps a lot. This is a good winter-warmer, one to take on a long wet hike or to open the chakras with. There’s a lick off oil in the texture, it’s nice and natural, but not a thickness monster – still feels quite youthful despite the 12 years in cask.

Lands intensely salty, with mineral and maritime notes throughout the palate. Manages to be sweet and bone-dry at the same time. There isn’t a tremendous amount of development, but it’s effective.

Besides digestive biscuits mushed with salted butter, it’s all oyster shells, fusel oils, mixed herbs and general gunk – very nice. Lots of sweet and juicy lemons in the mid-palate, this time accompanied by their flowers as well. This beautiful acidity carries into a powerful finish of brine, thyme and other garden herbs alongside violets. The myriad mineral aspects offer a tasting menu of the Earth’s strata. The dark and sulphurous side is well balanced by the zestier aspects.

Conclusion: An excellent if youngish edition of the Lagavulin 12. Doesn’t exhibit the same level of absolute perfection as some of the more mature versions (e.g. 2019), but it is as much of an event, even if there score’s a little lower. I’ve definitely had to hold myself back from getting too poetic about it. Brilliant!