Lagavulin 30 Year Old "Cask of Distinction" Single Cask #5403 [Tasted #581]

A month or so ago, I got word that House Welley Bar in Hong Kong (see our review here) had a pretty special bottle about to be released. I didn't get any clues as to what it was, but with bottles like a 23yo Cask of Distinction Lagavulin & a 100+ year old Cognac to their name already (or those of their founders'), I figured it would be something pretty special.

Turns out, it was...

Yep, they'd gone and bottled (along with their friends from Wu Dram Clan, HK Whisky Fellows & Kirsch Whisky) a single cask of 30 Year Old Lagavulin.

Not just any single cask of 30 Year Old Lagavulin, mind you, a Diageo Cask of Distinction Single Cask.

For those unfamiliar with the "CoD" program, you can find a little more detail here on our write-up of another excellent HK-exclusive CoD (a 35yo Clynelish). Suffice to say, these are truly rare and excellent casks, and I don't believe we've seen a 30yo Lagavulin bottled yet (a few 1991 Lagavulin casks have been bottled, but at 25-28 years old).

Diageo's CoD terminology means a "Select Cask" is a cask that underwent secondary maturation (e.g. a finish, or a vatting of casks - bottled from a single cask, but not matured entirely in that single cask) whereas "Single Cask" (what we have here) denotes the whisky maturing its entire life in a single cask - in this case, a 1st Fill European Oak Sherry Butt (interestingly, seasoned with both PX and Oloroso). 

Distilled on 4th November 1991, the whisky was bottled at 44.3% on 6th Jan 2022, yielding 318 bottles.

The whisky was released when I was in hotel quarantine, but as soon as I was free, I made a bee line for House Welley Bar. Conventional wisdom might suggest you don't start your night with a peated, sherried dram...but for this dram, the rules went out the window...

Lagavulin "Cask of Distinction" 30 Year Old Cask #5403, bottled for Hong Kong Whisky Fellows, Welley, Christoph Kirsch, Sebastien Jaeger & Boris Borissov (44.3% ABV, 30yo, Cask #5403, One of 318 bottles, Islay, Scotland, $900HKD/15mL @ House Welley Bar, Hong Kong)

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Colour: Coffee copper.

Nose: Immediately intoxicating. Which is more prominent? The beautiful clean sherry (which has sweet PX hints and dryer Oloroso hints), or the subtle peat? Sometimes one, sometimes the other. There are whole oranges alongside barbecued bacon fat. It's so obviously a Lagavulin, but the most elegant and clean Laga you've ever nosed. One of those noses you just want to sit on forever. After about 15 minutes, I started getting notes of really elegant old sherry casks - dunnage warehouses and a slightly earthy mushroom note. I'm talking about notes I generally only find on recently-released, but old sherried G&M drams (whiskies in the 60-80 year old age bracket) - not "old bottle effect", but "they don't make casks like that anymore" effect.

Palate: Follows the nose, with the bacon fat, mushroom notes following through, alongside some Crème Caramel, raspberry pie (with a flamed crust), leather, citrus and always the contrasting sherry and peat notes complimenting each other beautifully. After time, there are some sweeter icing sugar on a raspberry muffin notes coming through.

Finish: Medium in length, with just a hint of oak tannins, alongside raspberries, residual campfire smoke. After some time, the sweetness of the smoke increases.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 94/100. That's a high score, but this is a deserving whisky. Just sublime. Likely to spoil you for every Lagavulin you'll drink in the future (but still...worth it).

 

Congratulations to Hong Kong Whisky Fellows, House Welley Bar, Christoph Kirsch, Sebastien Jaeger & Boris Borissov for bottling such a stunning CoD, and for actually ensuring bottles are opened and enjoyed by as many whisky lovers as possible (I was at the bar less than a week after the announcement, and this was already the second bottle).

For those in Hong Kong, I can highly recommend dropping into House Welley Bar to try a dram. For those in Europe, I hope some of the other bottles get opened shortly!

Cheers,

Martin.

Tasted #446: Lagavulin "Casks of Distinction" 23yo bottled for Vincent Leung of Ginger and Rex Tong of Whisky Lovers HK

A few weeks ago I wrote about a stunning 35yo Clynelish bottled under Diageo's "Casks of Distinction" programme*, for Dram Good Stuff (a Hong Kong whisky store) and Aaron Chan (renowned HK whisky collector and owner of Club Qing whisky bar). 

Stunning though it was, it's not the only "Cask of Distinction" bottling to hit HK recently, with Vincent Leung (of HK's other great whisky enthusiast bar, Ginger) and Rex Tong (of Whisky Lovers HK / Ming Kee Wine Cellar) recently bottling a 23yo "Select Cask" 1995 Lagavulin.

("Select Cask" being Diageo's terminology for whisky bottled from a single cask that potentially contained a vatting of multiple casks, versus "Single Cask" which refers to whisky matured in one single cask for its entire life. Under SWA regulations, both are technically still considered "Single Casks" and allowed to be labelled as such.)

Vincent and Rex recently invited me to Ming Kee Wine Cellar for a taste, which I graciously accepted.

1995 Lagavulin 23yo "Casks of Distinction"Select Cask #9001 exclusively bottled for Vincent Leung and Rex Tong (48.7% ABV, 23yo, Islay, bottle 254 of 396)

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Colour: Vibrant yellow gold.

Nose: Pear fruitiness initially, then some dried oak, wood spice and dusty sherry. There's slight hints of peat, but it's sweet fruity peat. It's a beautiful nose, but not one you'd typically associate with a Lagavulin.

Palate: Grilled / BBQ'd pineapple rings. There's smoke, but it's fruity, meaty. There's an underlying confectionary sweetness (pineapple chews, yellow jelly babies), then slight hints of white pepper and lemon peel emerge. There's oak (but never too dominant), icing sugar and some orange zest.

Finish: Long, sweet pineapple smoke.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  92/100. Not at all what I'd expected, and nothing like any other Lagavulin I've tried before...but that just makes an already delicious whisky even more interesting.


Well done to Rex and Vincent on the cask selection. Anyone wanting to try this will find it occasionally open at Ginger whisky bar in Hong Kong.

* For more about the "Casks of Distinction" programme, see our visit to Johnnie Walker House Singapore post.

Cheers,
Martin.

Tasted #432 - Casks of Distinction Clynelish 1983 35yo for Dram Good Casks (Cask #2566)

Private cask ownership - for many whisky lovers, the ultimate goal...

We first came across Diageo's "Casks of Distinction" programme during our visit to Johnnie Walker House in Singapore in 2016, and since then we've seen some impressive bottles bottled from some of Diageo's best malt distilleries, including Port Ellen and Lagavulin. The program, more or less a private cask ownership program, sees Diageo offering up a small selection of high quality casks (literally "Casks of Distinction") each year for private ownership.

Having tried 7 or 8 "CoD" bottlings so far (including an excellent HK-exclusive Lagavulin, for which we'll post notes shortly), I personally haven't been disappointed by any of them. This Clynelish however was something really special. Distilled in 1983 and bottled in 2018 (at 35 years old), it is easily the most impressive modern Clynelish I've ever had the pleasure of trying.

This particular cask (Hogshead #2566) was bottled by our good friends Dram Good Stuff, under their "Dram Good Casks" label. DGS also had a small portion of the outturn bottled for Aaron Chan of whisky bar Club Qing, as well as for Bank of Singapore, but the remainder (and the majority) was bottled under the "Dram Good Casks" label you see above.

Clynelish fans in HK and Singapore should definitely give this a look-in, as this one truly is a "cask of distinction" and will no doubt impress even the most hardcore Clynelish fan. See my notes below.

1983 Clynelish 35yo "Casks of Distinction"Single Cask #2566 exclusively bottled for Dram Good Stuff (52.2% ABV, 35yo, Highlands, bottle 144 of 144)

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Colour: Yellow golden sunset.

Nose: Opening with enticing, invigorating clean, fresh waxy green apple notes (yep, it's definitely a Clynelish), you then start to experience wafts of earthy smoke, sweet pot-pourri-like floral notes, and baked apple pie (with a slightly burnt crust). This is a nose that warrants sitting on for a while - revisit it many times over a 20-30 minute period and you'll be rewarded with a changing and constantly delicious profile.

Palate: Starting with vanilla orange cream, much like the nose it then starts to evolve over time - with marmalade and mandarin notes showing at first, then a slight junipery-pepper note, more green apples and some of the floral notes from the nose returning. There's oak, but never too much, and it works in perfect harmony with the many other notes that appear over time. As with the nose, this is a dram that rewards time - the more you spend with it, the more you'll get from it.

Finish: Long, waxy, with hints of oak (never dominating), grassy freshness and finally back to those delicious green apple notes. An incredibly satisfying end to a beautiful dram.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  93/100. Truly excellent.

A limited number of these bottles are available - contact Dram Good Stuff (mention TimeforWhisky.com) or contact us and we'll be happy to put you in touch.

Cheers,
Martin.