Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 48.8%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Valinch & Mallet Ltd.
Average price: € 70.00
Official website: www.valinchandmallet.com
Vote: 88/100
With today’s review, we take quite a step back in time, tasting a 2016 Valinch & Mallet bottle: a young Lagavulin under a pseudonym from a single ex-bourbon cask.
Distilled in 2008 and bottled eight years later at 48.8%ABV, it’s a whisky that is now impossible to recover (the price is the one at its release), but we want to talk about it anyway, partly because we are faithful admirers of Fabio Ermoli and Davide Romano’s selections, and partly because Lagavulin remains over the years, despite fierce competition, our favourite peated whisky.
Tasting notes
The colour is gold.
The nose immediately evokes impressions of charcoal and fat on the grill, with hints of long-burnt wood, barbecued pork and a salty touch that brings us back to the deepest essence of this whisky from Islay. A note of leather and one of pipe tobacco evoke in our fervid imagination the image of a gentleman with a beard and braces (who knows why braces?) smoking in an armchair. A light sprinkling of pepper is accompanied by a hint of nutty pastry, while over time vanilla takes on more and more substance. As the olfactory reconnaissance continues, we also detect a timid chilli pepper.
On the palate, pepper and chilli immediately take centre stage, with barbecue smoke and charcoal equally protagonists. Burnt pastry and yellow apple make one think, together, of an apple tart that has been left in the oven a little too long. Powdered coffee and smoked custard (we don’t know if it exists, but that’s the feeling) together don’t make you think of anything, but they are quite noticeable.
The finish is long, warm and peppery, with charcoal and coffee powder.
On the nose, it almost appears to be a whisky from another era, far more mature than its age. In the mouth, thanks to the contribution of the spices, it shows more of its youth. However, this distance is not a defect, but rather a sign of originality for a dram that adds an entirely unique perceptive dimension to the distillery’s DNA.