Lagavulin Distillery
Lagavulin,
Isle of Islay
History - This iconic single malt distillery can be found in a small bay near the south coast of Islay close to the ruins of Dunyveg Castle. It is said to be one of the longest established distilleries in Scotland with records of distilling dating back as far back as 1742, which at that time would have certainly been illicit or illegal distilling due to the high taxes from London. The distillery of Lagavulin officially dates from 1816 when local ,John Johnston, combined 2 distilleries to create Lagavulin. It is now owned by the spirit giant Diageo and is one of the companies most sought after single malts.
The Whisky – All their whisky is excellent. Of course you have to have a taste for the peated genre of single malt whisky but i have several times used Lagavulin to get people into appreciating smoky whiskies. Once folk get past the bonfire aroma and they realise that Lagaulin is one of the sweetest and most satisfying drams you will ever taste.
Favourite Dram - Lagavulin released their 16 year old in 1989 with the thinking that it would never be a big seller. It was and is an amazing whisky but surely most whisky drinkers would still prefer their Glenkinchie or Dalwhinnie, with their softer and easy drinking nature. They were wrong, Lagavulin 16 went onto be a rip roaring success and one of the companies most awarded and celebrated single malts.
Geek Alert - Lagavulin was brought to fame for whisky lovers due to its inclusion in The Classic Malt Collection. Back in 1988 Diageo, the biggest player in the Scotch whisky industry, released The Classic Malt Collection. It started as a small selection of whiskies that would showcase the range of flavours available in single Scotch whisky, covering the smoky, sweet, rich, and light, with many stops in between. The company has been adding to the collection over the years with bottling from many of their other distilleries.
Why Visit? – Like all of the distilleries on Islay, Lagavulin is well set up for visitors. They offer a number of great tours from the standard distillery tour where you will experience the whisky making process before receiving a dram of one of their core range (you even get to keep the special branded Glencairn glass it comes in) and a £5 discount off selected 70cl bottles from the shop. The standard tour costs £6 and lasts around 1 hour. If you are really into your Scotch then you can book onto their Caol Ila (Thier sister distillery) & Lagavulin Day Excursion for a cost of £90. Here you will have jam packed day of tours, Whisky and Chocolate Tasting, goody bags, lunch and special access to their warehouse to taste some of their rarest whiskies.
Interesting fact – American actor Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson on the cult TV series “Parks and Recreation,” is an huge Lagavulin fan. He even creates limited-edition Lagavulin tableware in his L.A. wood shop. Lagavulin capitalised on his love for the whisky by getting Nick to shoot a series of commercials called “My Tales of Whisky,”. My favourite by far is Nick simply silently sitting by a open fire while sipping Lagavulin for a full 45 minutes. It sounds bizarre but it is one of the most relaxing things you will ever watch.
Follow me on twitter @andydrink or on Facebook
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here