ABV: 46 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is savory peat and honey sweetness. At first, the peat shines through with savory honey-glazed meat and ashes from a burnt out campfire. There’s a fruitiness coming through from behind. It’s a mix of green apples and ripe green grapes. There’s an overlay of vanilla which makes it feel very desserty even though the peaty flavours are present. The vanilla grows more intense as time passes in the glass. The contrast works and it feels quite balanced.

Mouth: The vanilla and the fruitiness are the first things to come through, but they are soon replaced by spicy notes and ashy peatiness. It’s less savory and sweet in taste than on the nose. It’s a little bit dry even though the oakiness is hidden behind the peat at this point. It’s a touch bitter and a touch dusty, but the main features are intact.

Finish: A dusty start goes by and then it goes back to the savory peatiness. There are vanilla, honey and black liquorice sitting in the back and the finish is not fruity at all. The oakiness is maintaining and adding to the dry mouthfeel. It’s a very nice oakiness which is intertwined with the peatiness all the way to the end. It steers towards a leathery note in the finish. This is a very good whisky and the tie-in to the GoT series was worrying, but they executed it in a good way.

Additional information
This Lagavulin 9 YO is a limited edition from the Game of Thrones whisky range. It’s been aged in first fill american ex-bourbon barrels.