Bottle # 1198 sold empty at ebay

Lagavulin 1995 ‘Feis Ile’ (54,7%, OB 2014, European sherry oak butts, 3500 btl.)

Nose: excellent, focused nose with a backbone of coastal notes: shells, oysters, waxed rain coats, flints and brine. Big medicinal notes, mainly iodine. Plasticine. Also sweeter notes like oranges and berries, as well as some honey, although the sherry doesn’t overpower in any way. Smoky lemon juice. Rose pepper. Tobacco. More on the sharp, edgy side of sherried Lagavulins, but quite perfect really. Mouth: oily, with plenty of tar, ashes and soot. Highly medicinal again, salty and immensely full-bodied. Sharp but it mixes nicely with yellow and pink grapefruits, Seville oranges and dark Lapsang tea. Then some honey sweetness and hints of dried apricots. Sweet liquorice. A fair dose of oak as well. Finish: very long, with lots of wood smoke and cigars. Cinnamon. Tobacco. Still a striking balance of sharpness and sweetness.

Excellent Lagavulin, similar in style to the 2012 release of the 21 Year Old. Originally around € 125, which is really cheap for a near-20yo (considering the official 21yo was around € 500). Most of these Lagavulin Feis Ile releases are top-notch and this one in particular is just great. An instant classic.

Score: 93/100

[October, 2014]  I had another dram during a "Feis Ile 2014" tasting at Bonn.

In my old rating system (ten scales that translate into WB points: 50 - 66 - 75 - 80 - 82,5 - 85 - 87,5 - 90 - 92,5 - 95) I scored it 92,5.  My notes state this is one of the best recent Lagavulin releases (if not the best at all...).

I had my first sip at the distillery during Feis Ile 2014 and emptied a complete bottle until the end of the festival.  Excellent stuff!

http://www.weinkenner.de/2014/feis-ile-2014-lagavulin-19y-sherry-butts-vs-ardbeg-auriverdes-33471/ Color: golden yellow
Nose: Smoked lemon juice with a lot of salt, peat and tar. Notes of fresh sea air, seaweed, iodine, coal and ash as well as sweet honey-vanilla aromas rise from the glass. Grapefruit and oranges, but also green notes of freshly sliced ​​limes and lime peel are included.
Taste: Fat onset and oily-sweet with lots of peaty malt, sea salt, honey and vanilla. Ultra-smoky tar, soot, iodine and all sorts of maritime notes are found on the tongue. Slowly becoming slightly bitter and merging into the finish with rounded oakwood notes.
Finish: Long with lots of sweet peat smoke and green tea. Notes of iodine are also retained in the finish. Wood and a little vanilla snuff are also included. Cocoa and cinnamon towards the end, bittersweet and very peaty.
91 points (nose: 91 / taste: 92 / finish: 90)

[September, 2016]  I had another dram during a "Lagavulin Bicentenary" tasting at Bonn.

In my old rating system (ten scales that translate into WB points: 50 - 66 - 75 - 80 - 82,5 - 85 - 87,5 - 90 - 92,5 - 95) I scored it 92,5.  I took no detailed notes.

[April, 2016]  I had another dram during a private birthday tasting at Hamburg.

In my old rating system (ten scales that translate into WB points: 50 - 66 - 75 - 80 - 82,5 - 85 - 87,5 - 90 - 92,5 - 95) I scored it 92,5.  I took no detailed notes.

light amber color, beautiful peaty / sherry nose where everything is perfectly melted (at the 1970's Ardbeg) with a fat, oily, maritime peat, a lot of tar, rubber, dried fruits, tobacco, chocolate, medicinal herbs, cloves. The mouth opens on an impressive oily texture, it seems soft at first and then more powerful on the end, we find the aromas of the nose with a little more pepper and iodine, maybe a little black cherries and ashes too. Very long finish, on tobacco, spices (cinnamon, cloves).

The price winning whisky for Feis Ile 2014, absolutely a perfect balanced whisky from Lagavulin.