Lagavulin 8: smoke off the shoreline
A mate tips a finger of Lagavulin 8 into your glass at his kitchen bench, says nothing, and waits. You've had the 16. You've not had this one. It's pale in the glass, so you brace for something thin, and then it isn't thin at all.
Here's the thing worth knowing before you buy your next bottle. If Lagavulin 8 is your pour, an Ardbeg Wee Beastie gives you about 92% of what your own bottle does, for 81% of its price. Same corner of Islay, most of the same pleasure, a chunk less at the till.
Lagavulin 8 is light in colour but not light in character. The nose heads straight for the shore, all mineral and sea salt, with a sweetness underneath that keeps it fresh and lively rather than heavy. The palate brings menthol, a little bay laurel, more brine, a hint of malt, and a floral lift of Parma violet. It drinks breezy, like peat smoke carried off a kiln into salt air.
1/Friday knock-off, nothing fancy. Lagavulin 8 is open on the bench — $99 for members at Dan's, eight years old at 48%. Mineral, salt, a flick of Parma violet, peat smoke drifting off a kiln. For a Port Charlotte 10 drinker it's 97% of the night, for 68% of the spend.
2/The Port Charlotte 10 sits beside it at $146, heavier peated, butterscotch and a touch of sherry, iodine kept on a leash. What a Port Charlotte drinker gives up stepping across to the Lagavulin is mostly two years of age. That's the whole of it.
3/So: the Port Charlotte 10 at $146 is still the one its fans reach for, and no argument there. The Lagavulin 8 at $99 is the one for every other night of the week — at about $3.73 a pour, roughly two-thirds what that pint down the pub costs you per drink.
The bottlesThe Lagavulin desk
Also from the Lagavulin desk
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: tasting
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: wood smoke and sea breeze, black pepper, then milk chocolate raisins and vanilla. Peaty, punchy, oily, with a long smoky finish. $92 this week; it usually sells around $106. A young Islay with teeth. Love peat? This one's for you. More in this week's piece.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: neighbours' price
I love handing a Laphroaig 10 drinker an Ardbeg Wee Beastie. They'd pay about $68 for it, roughly 62% of what their own bottle costs them, docking it a little for the extra strength. A yes either way, really. More on the Beastie in this week's piece.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: per drink
A dram of Ardbeg Wee Beastie after the plates are cleared, and the sums are the small ones: about 26 drinks to the bottle, which comes to $3.51 a pour at home. A pint at the pub runs closer to $6.28 for the same measure. The tasting is in this week's piece.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: price guide
Ardbeg Wee Beastie is $92 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $106, so you're catching it below the usual. If you like your Islay loud, peat, smoke and sea air, this one's for you. At about $3.51 a pour it's easy to keep on the bench. More in this week's piece.
Port Charlotte 10: price per drink
Two Islays, side by side. Port Charlotte 10 is $146 this week, Caol Ila 12 is $138, so the Port Charlotte costs $8 more a bottle. Pour them and at 50% against 43% it's the cheaper drink: $5.29 a standard drink against $5.81. It runs darker than you'd expect, smoky and a touch medicinal, leaving you reaching for another. Per standard drink this week: — Ardbeg Wee Beastie: $3.51 — Lagavulin 8: $4.26 — Lagavulin 11 Sweet Peat: $4.84 — Port Charlotte 10: $5.29 — Caol Ila 12: $5.81 A pint at the pub is about $6.28 a standard drink. Every pour here sits under it.
Bunnahabhain 12: tasting
Bunnahabhain 12, $99 for members at Dan Murphy's. The nose is all sea salt and tangerines. The palate turns oily and warm: vanilla, sultanas, hazelnuts, a wisp of woodsmoke. Salt and drying smoke on the finish. More on it in this week's piece.
Bunnahabhain 12: neighbours' price
Bunnahabhain 12 and its nearest neighbour, Tamdhu 12, both lean on sherry casks. Hand a Tamdhu 12 drinker a Bunnahabhain 12 and they'd put it at 72% of what their own bottle costs. Plenty to like either way. More on the Bunnahabhain 12 in this week's piece.
Bunnahabhain 12: per drink
I poured the Bunnahabhain 12 and there it was: sea salt, a little tangerine, smoke drifting off at the end. At $99 that's $3.87 a standard drink, about 26 to the bottle. A pint runs about $6.28 a standard drink; a quieter pour at home. More in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8: stand-in 1
If Lagavulin 8 is your dram, Ardbeg Wee Beastie, $92, gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 92% of what the Lagavulin 8 does for 81% of the price, all wood smoke, sea breeze and black pepper, with more on the Lagavulin 8 in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8: neighbours' price
Hand a Caol Ila 12 drinker a Lagavulin 8 and they'd pay 59% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down for being the younger pour. Still an easy yes for anyone who loves salt, shore and peat smoke. Where would it sit for you? More in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
Lagavulin 8: per drink
At $4.26 a standard drink, a pour of Lagavulin 8 at home sits under the $6.28 a pint costs at the pub. The $113 bottle holds about 27 standard drinks, 161st of 310 at Dan Murphy's by price per drink. Where does that leave you? More in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
Lagavulin 8: stand-in 2
Like Lagavulin 8? Laphroaig 10 gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 80% of the same pour, for 96% of the price — and it's $109. Brine, iodine, charcoal, a sweet oak finish. The rest sits in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
Flavour spotlight: peat smoke and sea air, under $100
Peat smoke and sea air, all under $100. The Scotch single malts at Dan Murphy's with the most of it, from their own reviews: Caol Ila 12, $99: fish and bacon off a beach barbecue, lightly oily and meaty. Smokehead Islay, $76: young and fiery, toffee apple, charcoal ash and peppered seaweed. Lagavulin 8, $99: straight to the shore, mineral and salt, then a breezy menthol. Glen Moray Peated, $72: sweet smoke and vanilla, lemon icing, a soft ashy finish. Talisker 10, $92: a sweet pear under the smoke, finishing on cracked black pepper. Five routes to the same coast. Pick your weather.
Lagavulin 16: price per drink
Friday night, two Islay bottles on the bench look almost twins. Caol Ila 12 is $99 this week, Bowmore 12 is $95. So Caol Ila costs $4 more a bottle. But at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $4.17 a standard drink against $4.30. Per standard drink: Bowmore 12 $4.30, Caol Ila 12 $4.17, Bunnahabhain 12 $5.01, Lagavulin 16 $6.74, Lagavulin 11 Sweet Peat $6.95. A pint at the pub is about $13, near two standard drinks, so $6.28 each. Bowmore, Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain come in under; the two Lagavulins sit over. Pick by taste. The price per pour won't trip you up.
Lagavulin 8: per standard drink
Lagavulin 8 is $99 for members this week, 48% in a 700 mL bottle: about 26 standard drinks, so $3.73 a standard drink. Where it lands: - 29th of 120 single malts at Dan Murphy's - 4th of 16 from Islay - 137th of 318 overall A pint at the pub is $6.28 a standard drink.
Ledaig 10: tasting
Pour Ledaig 10 of an evening and the peat lands brisk and bracing, its raw edge softened by honeyed vanilla, earthy smoke, ripe barley and a twist of black liquorice. $99 for members at Dan Murphy's, where it usually sells around $104. More in this week's piece.
Ledaig 10: stand-in 1
If Ledaig 10 is your smoke, Talisker 10 sits right alongside it: a Ledaig 10 drinker gets about 99% of what they came for, at 93% of the price. That's $92 for members, sweet pear and cracked black pepper under the smoke. More on Ledaig 10 in this week's piece.
Ledaig 10: neighbours' price
Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest Ledaig 10 what it's worth to them. Their answers run $86 to $133, each from what they pay for their own. At $99 for members it sits inside that range, an easy yes for the peat drinker. More on Ledaig 10 in this week's piece.
Ledaig 10: per drink
They're all smoky, each in its own way. Ledaig 10 comes to $3.87 a standard drink — a pour at home, around 26 to the bottle. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. More on Ledaig 10 in this week's piece.
Ledaig 10: price guide
Earthy peat smoke, honeyed vanilla and a stick of black liquorice, a brisk punch with soothing sweetness beneath. That's Ledaig 10, $99 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $104, so take this as a gentle guide. More in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8: tasting
Light in colour but no wimp: Lagavulin 8 heads for the shore with mineral and salt, then menthol, bay laurel and Parma violet, breezy as peat smoke blown off a kiln into salt-laden air. It's $99 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. Pour one; the full piece is on Lagavulin 8.
Lagavulin 8: stand-in 1
Talisker 10 gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 95% of what the Lagavulin 8 does, for 93% of the price. $92 for members. Pour it and the smoke lifts to a sweet, pear-like note, then a hit of cracked black pepper. More on Lagavulin 8 in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8: neighbours' price
Ask the drinkers of Lagavulin 8's nearest neighbours what they'd pay for it, each starting from their own bottle: $90 at the low end, $142 at the high. At $99 for members, it sits inside that range. The full read on Lagavulin 8 is in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8: per drink
Ever worked out what a pour at home actually costs you? Lagavulin 8 comes to about $3.73 a standard drink, where a pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 for the same measure. The full piece on it is up this week.
Talisker 10: tasting
Talisker 10: I get a sweet, pear-like note under the smoke on the nose, an easy palate, then a finish with a crack of black pepper. The smoke is there, but it never takes over the whole room. $92 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. More on it in this week's piece.
Talisker 10: neighbours' price
Ask the drinkers of Talisker 10's nearest bottles what they'd give for it, each starting from what their own costs, and the answers run $90 to $135. At $92 for members, Talisker 10 sits near the bottom of that spread. Where each kind of drinker lands is in this week's piece.
Talisker 10: per drink
Talisker 10 is $92, about 25 standard drinks in the bottle, so a pour at home runs $3.64 a drink, against about $6.28 a standard drink for a pint at the pub. Pour it when you want cracked pepper and sweet seaweed on a cold night. More in this week's piece. Which way tonight?
Lagavulin 8: tasting
Pale in the glass, but no wimp. The nose heads for the shore: mineral, salt, a sweetness that keeps it fresh. Then menthol, a hint of malt, Parma violet, like peat smoke blown off a kiln into salt air. Lagavulin 8, $99 for members. Pour one this week; more in the piece.
Lagavulin 8: neighbours' price
I asked the drinkers of Lagavulin 8's nearest neighbours what they'd pay for it, each starting from their own bottle: $100 to $142. At $99 for members, it lands just inside that range. I've set it all out in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8 — where would you put it?
Lagavulin 8: per drink
Lagavulin 8 runs $99, about 27 standard drinks, so $3.73 a pour at home. A pint at the pub is around $6.28 a standard drink. Shore on the nose, menthol and bay laurel on the palate, breezy peat through. One for the drinker who likes smoke fresh. More in this week's piece.
The numbers behind these bottles
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Islay | $164.99 | observed | $164.99 | $142.09 | 13.9% | #11 of 16 | $4.84 | #11 of 16 | 6 |
| Lagavulin 16 reference | Islay | $149.90 | observed | $159.95 | $130.52 | 18.4% | #14 of 16 | $6.31 | #16 of 16 | 19 |
| Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Islay | $112.99 | observed | $99.00 | $91.35 | 7.7% | #1 of 16 | $4.26 | #8 of 16 | 63 |