Lagavulin 16 Years Old Rare White horse distillers 1816 ISLA painted in gold 43%

Professionele reviews

Serge Valentin (93)

Colour: full amber.

Nose: this one starts fruitier and even more expressive, with also added waxy notes (paraffin). It’s also got something superbly vegetal (fern, moss, wild mushrooms…) as well as hints of lamp oil, linseed oil, old pu-erh tea… And then we have that eucalyptus, white pepper, shells, kelp… We’re closer to the old 12 yo white label now, which means it’s just fabulous whisky.

Mouth: a magnificent attack on all sorts of wax, smoked tea, refined peat, liquorice roots and hints of ginger. What a great compactness! Goes on with orange marmalade, black pepper, dried kumquats, hints of curry, horseradish… Superbly sharp and mouthfilling at the same time.

The finish is long, spicy, peaty and on all sorts of dried fruits. A star.

BOW (93)

Rare White horse distillers version
Top of the oval label: a golden royal seal instead of a sailship on the new version...Bottom of the square label: 'White Horse' instead of 'Port Ellen'. The post-2000 version is great malt, but the older, 'White Horse' one was even better - an absolute winner!
-Serge Valentin-