Lagavulin Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1816 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

The nose draws you in with a comforting sweetness, the scent of heather in bloom and a paper bag of liquorice all-sorts. Sugar and oats soon give way to something bolder and more pungent - charcoal, wet ashes and multi-surface cleaner. There is also a hint of saltiness in the blend, smoked salmon and a portion of mature cheese.

First sip makes a big impression; this isn't just smoky, it's a forest in flames, a peaty explosion. Sugar and salt tickle the palate in delicious combinations, smoky bacon with maple syrup, toffee apples, honey-roasted nuts and sweet and sour pork. The unctuous palate adds fuel to the fire and revives earlier comparisons with disinfectant, surgical spirits and Olbas oil. Yet amongst all that heat and smoke, there is a still a hint of green; a whiff of summer and freshly mown grass.

A gratifyingly long finish, in which sweet and salty flavours continue to battle it out with a long, smooth and satisfying mmmmmmmm. A mug of lapsang-souchong with a generous spoon of sugar; salted liquorice and Fox's Glacier Mints; a lick around the rim of a classic Margarita.

~£43 (50cl)

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

93 / 100