Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 2015

It's young and assertive, not too complex or varied, but that's not what's expected of a release like this. It's pure power and energy that knocks you off your feet, and in that regard, everything is spot on, with no obvious flaws.

Whiskyauction History: https://www.whiskyauction.com/history/history.php?item=IM399b&auction=2016-06#openModal

Simple clean but elegant and perfectly balanced from nose to palate. Tasting notes from december 2016.

A really good Lagavulin, 2015 was apparently a good year, one of the better Lagavulin in recent years. Great sherry influence, super integrated.

nose: citrus fruits,( pineapple mangos), touch smoke, a bit sea weed funk, tar and asphalt, minerality, 土味, mouth: sweet citrus pineapple, 菠萝糖， bit heat, ginger spice, minty freshness, 柠檬糖， finish: mid, tar, smoke ash, minty dryness, fragrant, roasted coffee, dark chocolate. 评分: 89, it's great, not as tar as a lot of the lagavulins I've head, it's a great dram! fierce and round at the same time!

Lighly colored Laga yet subtely influenced by some sherry notes, if memory serves me well more than the following 3 years of Jazz bottlings. Malt grows with some sips and shows depth. It's clear - like it hints on the label - that this is not some young juice but at least a couple of older (14-17yo?) casks were selected. For now 89p. but with potential to crack the 90 upon re-review. Maybe a little aggro on the alcohol this one, did not tame down yet after a month open.

Very nice Laga .... enjoy!

I always struggle with smokers so strong to smell and taste the aromas. With this one, it takes some time until the first strong smokiness vanishes. But he will be pretty good and definitely worth to be enjoyed.

A good, calm, moderate Ayla, everything is very strict, smoke and peat are abundant, but not excessive, something fruity in the background emphasizes the basic tone, but it remains there, the development becomes more spicy, crisp, but at the same time remains very light, airy.

Lagavulin Session https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/124498/lagavulin-09-year-old-house-lannister 84+ https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/140080/lagavulin-12-year-old 89+ https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/132355/lagavulin-2008 88+ https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/75648/lagavulin-islay-jazz-festival-2015 90- https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/191578/islay-south-coast-21-year-old-bw 89- https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/12/lagavulin-25-year-old 94+

CV Distillers Athens. Deep, fatty, meaty, with warm smoke and sea notes.

delivered too late for the jazz festival, so oodles left and being sold alongside the 2016 feis bottling @ £99 a bottle. Personally I think this is better than the Feis bottling and 3500 versus the Feis bottling of 6000 bottles.

Quite light on the nose but a very nice taste.

Unfortunately too one-sided .....

Reminiscent of the best 12 CS of the past, with the elegant citrus ash and the charming oiliness. Musically expressed: Located between cool jazz and danceable funk rock - very groovy! :)

A nice offering from Lagavulin. The nose is the highlight. Unfortunately the palate is a bit messy and all over the place. Lacks the sweetness I generally enjoy from a Lagavulin. Definitely not my favorite limited release from the distillery, but an enjoyable dram nonetheless.

Clear and liquid honey. Iodine iridescent mineral peat. We mainly feel the Bourbon profile on the nose. Juicy white plums. Thick smoke, however controlled. Wood wax, ointment, some seaweed, shellfish and oysters. It's soft. Banana, papaya. Lemon confit. On the palate, the exotic fruits are confirmed, with strong spices, cumin, black pepper, nutmeg and cloves. Sweet and honeyed notes, mirabelle plum jam, lard, grilled bacon. It's meaty too, actually. Long and languorous finish, between exotic fruits and plums, sparkling, a little sandy. Lychees. Nut. It's very similar to 12 year old, but rounder, smoother and more balanced. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2023/02/lagavulin-islay-jazz-festival-2015.html

A good mixture with a high degree, complex and harmonious, full of warm smoke, peat, as if first you are approaching a swamp, and then giving off vanilla, a yellow apple, then dried fruits, with mineral tones, with sea salt, like from a cold ocean in the morning after a storm .

H2H- Lagavulin through the ages - as usual logic would dictate that the older ones would be better, but will that be the case? I already did a head to head of the 21, 25 and 30 and found the 25 to be better than most other people and between the 3 not that much in it so it will be interested to taste again. Lagavulin 16 is favourite of many on here for a go to islay dram and once price has been taken into account I  can gauge the best value and I suspect the 16 will do well here. Mid 1960`s to present 37 year, all official bottlings Drams https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/100508/lagavulin-guaranteed-pure-malt-pot-still https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/51469/lagavulin-16-year-old  https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/75648/lagavulin-islay-jazz-festival-2015  https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/35109/lagavulin-1991   https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/613/lagavulin-1985  https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/12/lagavulin-25-year-old  https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/10/lagavulin-30-year-old  https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/44217/lagavulin-37-year-old In theory the nose and palate should all have similarities so I will knock a few out from the start, tasting 8 heavy peaters is a lot for  my palate.   Nose The first to be discounted was the Jaz festival2015 and the 30 year but that might be because they were more delicate. next was the 21 year 1991 then the 37 year which left the NAS 1960`s, 16 year, 21 year 1985 and the 25 year. A difficult decision 1 - 21 year 1985 2 - Pure Pot Still 60`s 3 - 37 year 4 - 16 year 5 - 25 year 6 - 30 year 7 - 21 year 1991 8 - 2015 Jazz festival Palate 1st tasting (tentative) 1 - 21 year 1985 2= - 21 year 1991 2= - 37 year 4 -2015 Jazz festival 5 - 25 year 6  - 30 year 7 - Pure Pot Still Nas 8 - 16 year 2nd tasting 1 -1985 21 year 2 - 1991 21year 3 - 37 year 4 - 25 year 5 - Jazz festival 2015 6 - 30 year 7 - 16 year 8 - Nas pure pot still (been open a while) After 2 tastings my top 3 were the same with the 25 year moving to 4th the Nas was bottom with the 16 year just beating it. The 30 year was a little delicate in this company. The big question is and the one that should give us all hope is that there was little in the first 6 placings and the 16 year was not far behind but the exta years maturation told. If You took price into consideration then the 16 year can hold its head up high.

Excellent Lagavulin, very similar to the LE 12yo. Tried at the outrageously priced SAWA bar in Tokyo.

Great whisky, great balance. It is made to drink slowly on cool evenings and just have fun.

Whiskyfun review: https://www.whiskyfun.com/archivejune16-2-Glenfarclas-Bowmore-Lagavulin-Glengoyne.html#270616

The initial hit on the nose is pure, rich sherry, but this only lasts for a moment before the purer 12yo OB profile comes crashing in, with the beautiful crystal-clean peat, zesty fruits and sea salt to the fore. Then...back comes the rich sherry profile, bringing dark stewed fruits to the party, alongside roasted nuts and coffee beans, treacle toffee, poached pears, and a whiff of old leather. It's almost like they've taken the ridiculously high quality 2015 12yo release and added some sherried 21yo to the mix to take it to another level. I wasn't sure that this combination would work, but I really love it. This is just supreme cask selection! Crashing peat on the palate (at the higher end of 'ashy peat' that I would associate with this distillery...perhaps more akin to the Caol Ila profile?), with lashings of salty tablet and sherried fruits keeping things very interesting. Very long, soft and smoky finish that just lingers endlessly. When I saw that this was a non-vintage release I got a bit worried. I haven't taken particularly to the recent triple-cask releases as I felt they slightly confused the pure Lagavulin spirit. This one is a true, thoroughbred Lagavulin that brings together the best of the bourbon and sherry cask profiles into a harmonious single dram. Notes are after addition of a couple of drops of water! Neat, the nose and palate have less peat and more sweet fruits.

Premium tasting at Lagavulin. (everyone though the samples were to skimpy, and it really was, anything less and it would just have been a nosing)

A noble droplet

a beautiful Lagavulin Elegance meets wild west

Unlike other Islay whiskies that punch you in the face with peat, this laga is light and soft, with low flavor intensity and almost no alcohol. It starts out like a 46% whisky, making it relatively easy to drink even for the general public. After the whisky enters your mouth, the flavor gradually opens up in your mouth and becomes richer.

It has been suggested (albeit not confirmed by 'official sources' as far as I'm aware) that this is a vatting of 12yo and 18yo casks.

I found this much more ballanced than the '99 DE, but then again it's in a different price bracket

Comment: Blind tasting. A very balanced whisky, if Thierry did not give us a trap, it's an Islay, otherwise it looks like it's misleading. I love it, but that's not a surprise. The more the tasting continues, the more I love this whisky.

Balance sheet (22) Beautiful Mute (90) The

Bottle 2519. Very good, we smell more bourbon on the nose, then sherry in the mouth.

A beautiful festival bottling that convinces me even without an age statement. For me, it's in the same league as the 12-year-old special releases of the 2010s. However, I liked the 2016 Jazz (WB86624) a little better.

"Lagavulin Jazz Festival 2015 (55,4%, OB 2015, 3500 btl.) Nose: a nicely fatty nose, punchy like the 12 Year Old but slightly rounder, more honeyed and toffeed. Lime juice. Leather. Some seaweed, oysters and iodine but less smoke than the regular 16yo. Nice, it’s raw but refined at the same time. Mouth: same feeling of punchy peat and crystal-clean lemons, but also toffee sweetness and vanilla cream to round off the edges. Great balance. Berries in the background with dried fruits. Sharper, kippery hints as well. Leathery notes, a spicy oakiness and some malty mocha towards the end. Finish: long, tarry but also elegant and a bit more smoky now. This Lagavulin unites the bourbon character with the sweeter sherry profile. The 12yo is at the base of this, but this is better – well done. Around € 130 at the distillery, now much more in auctions. Score: 91/100" Extracted from: whiskynotes.be

http://kaypingers-whiskyblog.de/frontend/fullarticle.php?id=205 Color: straw yellow Nose: salty-maritime, with aromas of leather, damming, algae, seaweed, iodine, coal, tar, peat and smoke. But also sherry, toffee and green aromas of lime, gooseberries and watermelons. Taste: Salty and powerful, if a bit unstructured. Lots of salty seasoning with cuts of green and dark fruits, sherry, peat, smoke and ash. The subordinate vanilla is virtually demonstrated. Sweet, fresh and sparkling it goes to the finish thanks to the full salinity. Discreet wood comes up and the malt is getting drier. Finish: Medium long - fresh, peaty, malty. The taste notes are largely continued here under the influence of the wood. Note: Unfortunately, the combination of a young bourbon barrel and an older sherry barrel does not go hand-in-hand with this bottling! 89 points N: 89P / G: 89P / F: 88P

I have heard that it is a vatting of 14yo bourbon and a 20yo sherry casks. Offcourse not confirmed by 'official sources'. very good lagavulin expression.

http://www.weinkenner.de/2016/lagavulin-vertical-39555/ Color: straw yellow Nose: salty-maritime, with aromas of leather, damming, algae, seaweed, iodine, coal, tar, peat and smoke. But also sherry, toffee and green aromas of lime, gooseberries and watermelons. Taste: Salty and powerful, if a bit unstructured. Lots of salty seasoning with cuts of green and dark fruits, sherry, peat, smoke and ash. The subordinate vanilla is virtually demonstrated. Sweet, fresh and sparkling it goes to the finish thanks to the full salinity. Subtle wood comes up, and the malt is getting drier. Finish: Medium long - fresh, peaty, malty. The taste notes are largely continued here under the influence of the wood. Note: Unfortunately, the combination of a young bourbon barrel and an older sherry barrel does not go hand in hand with this bottling! 89 points (nose: 89 / taste: 89 / finish: 88)

My least favorite of Lagavulin

straw color, nose in the spirit of 12CS Laga, well peated, mineral, very iodized and maritime, not necessarily a big complexity. Palate with a nice scale, alcohol very well integrated, not very thick compared to the last Feis Ile, a little less austere than the nose with lemony notes, a touch of vanilla and spices. Final long, maritime, well peated, a little liquorice. Good version, not too marked by the barrels, between the 12CS and Feis Ile 2016.

[May, 2017]  I had this during the Brand Ambassador tasting with Donald at the Feis Ile. The colour is pale straw and the texture shows slow legs and tears.  The nose is punchy first (due to the high abv) but after you adopt to this a very phenolic and vanilla sweet profile develops.  It arrives much smoother on the palate as one might think after the nose.  Neither hot nor peppery, but nicely coating and a little drying (metallic).  The taste is vanilla-sweet and smokey/phenolic just like the nose. The finish is long, chocolatey and again a little drying (cold ashes, metallic).  This dram is an excellent swimmer, so add a fair share of water to unlock all the hidden flavours and aromas.  A nice Lagavulin but not the most impressive one...

Beautiful selection of cask-strengh Lagavulin, which is clearly much more interesting than the last releases made by Diageo. Superb influence of wood without being disgusting. Evolves very well by leaving it a little time in its glass.

An excellent Lagavulin not much else to say!

Great expression by Lagavulin. This one is not so much into the wine cask direction as the Feis Ile 2016 but much more citrus fruity then the other 12y old CS versions. Concerning price/performance ratio: 8/10

More sweetness and sherry than 12yo CS's. Excellent!

Very Sharp one, mix of 12 yo Bourbon and 18yo Bodega gives a very good balance: Starts like a 12yo, quite young, but then it develops quite some complexity. Air improves it dramtically. Very well done even if is is quite modern in style overall.

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