Lagavulin Cask #1716 (distilled 1998) Feis Ile 2012 bottling, 55.1%

At first I wondered what was going on here. This Lagavulin has more of the austerity typical of Port Ellen. There’s a tense minerality on the nose giving the impression of salty rock-pools and samphire. Water makes it sweeter and oyster-like. There’s big delivery on the tongue, with masses of distillery character, but that tension remains to the saline finish. In a head-to-head with Caol Ila, the former wins hands down. £85