You summed that up perfectly and it echoes my feelings. Lagavulin 12 is just too expensive and i think it's extremely rude for Diageo to ask £130 for it. The only way to get them to reverse that price is to stop buying it.
Exactly, my problem with expensive whiskies is that even if I enjoy it, I sometimes find that if I feel like I overpaid, I feel like I've been let down if it doesn't over deliver!
This comparison had to be done. Beautiful! It does all come back to Ardbeg doesn't it. Always remember and never forget the core range. (special bottlings aside). Kilchoman single casks are coming of age. Everyday we are closer to some big peat hitters with age too. Port Charlotte @50% is very nice while the Octomore is a whole different price range. So what would I pay for a CS 16 year old Lagavulin? Alot? Hopefully much less than the Octomore I can't afford.
It's testament to Ardbeg that their standard OB 10yo would put up a decent fight against these two. And IMHO absolutely wipe the floor with Laphroaig 10 (40%) and Lagavulin 16. Cask Strength Lagavulin 16? Realistically probably more than Octomore :-) Your best bet is something like the 2017 Feis bottle which was 16yrs, Cask Strength and finished in a Moscatel wine cask. Whiskyfun gave it 88/100 and it sounds fantastic. Their tasting notes sound like exactly what I want the 12CS to be. Sadly that was a very limited release 5 years ago and now sells online for around £300...
I remember a few years ago I was complaining about Laga 12 being £95 a bottle. Luckily back then, you could pick up batches 2011-2016 for about £80 at auction (Inc fees). I filled my boots. Still got a batch 2013 & 2015 in the stash. 2015 is my favourite. Not so ashy and very fruity. 👌🏻
£80 seems a lot more reasonable. There are bottles that I remember not buying in the past because of the price that are now MUCH more expensive. In hindsight they may have been bargains. Makes you wonder where it will all end...
The Lagavulin 8 48% that was on sale at tesco for £38 a bottle wasy probably 1 of the most surprising values I've seen in a while, Im annoyed I didn't get more but it looks like it's going to be new edition for tesco so I'm guessing that it will be going back on offer like Ardbeg 10 and Talisker 10 once a month, Also the Lagavulin 8 is An awesome whisky and a clear winner out of the 3.
Whisky auctions are a much more sensible way to buy single malts these days.... in fact they're likely to make an excellent investment for the future... Well done sir.
@10:40 fascinating point. WL, you so knowledgeable, man. Thanks for your thoughts. This Lagavulin is crispy than its predecessors. One of the best Islays I had in recent times.
Blocking water supply ? How un-civilized ! - - - but dang it, a great story, indeed ! ! - - - If I could chose but one, Leapfrog is my choice. Great vid.
You got me to pour laga 2018 cs while I watched this. I have half full bottles 2017/2018 from this,summer. The 2017 is noticeably better than the latter. The 2013 CS is what got me into this distillery. I was a fews years into my whisky journey,then and tried the laga16 previously which I still think isn’t that great. I have several bottles of the laga distiller’s edition. I also have the Talisker DE which I’ve not had side by side, but my initial nod would go Talisker’s way. The laga cs 18 has made me gun-shy to buy another CS from them. I prefer Islay matured in bourbon, especially laphroaig in bourbon. I fear Lagavulin is spreading too thin and diageo is becoming a green-eyed monster. Sad because they’ve made some of the best I ever had.
Great to know that people have been joining me with their own bottles of Lagavulin. I really want to love Lagavulin 16 but I think once you become accustomed to 46%+ or even Cask strength whisky then the shortcoming of 43% whisky become difficult to overlook. Lagavulin are definitely cashing in on the popularity of the 12CS. I'm interested to see if the price will go up again next year and whether we're going to see the rumoured price increases across the Diageo line up. I think my next venture into Lagavulin will be the 8yo (I liked it when I tried it in 2015) because it's now looking like the only one that even stands a chance of being good value.
Hi Bob! I had a sample of the 2022 Lag12CS blind for the vPub and honestly I found it a bit subpar compared to other batches. If I were going to buy a Lag12 right now I'd go for the 2021 if possible at the same price. Just my opinion of course!
That's a great (and tough) question. Corry has always been my favourite Ardbeg other than the 10yo and I'd rate it similar to a middling batch of Laphroaig 10CS. With those strong oaky notes I think it's probably closer to Laphroaig than Lagavulin too.
Lagavulin 12 all the way! Lagavulin is a very special dram among the Islay whiskies. Way more going on and complexity than the Laphroaig. I absolutely love Laphroaig. I have duplicate bottles in my collection of Laphroaig batch 11, 12, and 13 right now. I also have a duplicate bottle of the Lagavulin twelve-year-old from 2017's bottling. The thing about the lagavulin 12 is that what makes it explode and unlock all those flavors is adding the right amount of water. Once you're able to dial in the right proportion of water (and an astonishing amount) I am telling you, you will have the tastiest whiskey you ever had. I'm talking applewood smoked bacon, hickory smoked turkey, liquid smoke, savory beef jerky, extinguished campfire wood by an ocean after a storm with all the churned up seaweed and cockle shells. Here's the best formula, pour yourself about three fingers width (forget the taster's thimble full measure, lol) of whiskey into a glass, pour a good splash (probably one finger width) water in. Man, you can cradle that whisky and enjoy all the flavors unravel for a looong time! It is expensive, but I definitely would buy a second, and third bottle, only because I want to enjoy drinking again what I discovered with the first one with second one, and I want to hang on to that third one for a special occasion. Plus, there's that awesome picture of the lion on the tube which reminds me of the Lion of Judah!
It's great to hear your passion for this Lagavulin. That's really what whisky is about and what makes experiencing it so great. I'll definitely agree that the Lagavulin has more complexity than the Laphroaig. And yes that label and tube are amazing! 3 parts whisky to 1 part water would put you at around 43%. I'll give it a go next time I have one. Cheers!
I had a sample of #11 but that was a year that I missed getting a full bottle. I do believe it was one of the more medicinal batches. Relative to the two most recent batches, #12 was too.
I'm convinced that Laphroaig used to use refill more especially in the 80s and 90s when the whisky industry couldn't even pay there staff and most closed the doors, I remember trying and especially nosing the Laphroaig 10 cask strength from about 2000 and it was literally pure hospital antiseptic tcp and lightly charred fruit in the background and no cask influences like they have now, Maybe I'm imaging it but in my mind they were using a lot of refill? Did have have the money at the time to use exclusively first fill? The price of Laphroaig is decent and you can get it for? 65, For me Laphroaig is, better in the mouth that it is on the nose, I'm going to give the batch 13 another go and not drink for at least a week as I don't no but I could be becoming immune to peat as I only drink peated whisky so maybe that muting the nose of the Laphroaig for me as I find them really mild? I don't think we'll ever see a pure refill 10 cask strength thats my dream Laphroaig
There probably was more refill back then and they were using very different casks too. I think a large part of why modern Laphy is so sweet and a bit milder is those Maker's Mark casks they're using now. You're fortunate to have tried Laphroaig Cask Strength from 2000. Was that when it was a travel retail exclusive? I've heard good things about those bottlings but unfortunately haven't tried any. They're meant to be very good and I've heard others say that they were very different to what we have now. Have you tried seeking out Independently bottled Laphroaig? That might be the key to getting around their love of first fill bourbon. I haven't tried it but there's a bottling from Carn Mor available on Master of Malt at the moment called Williamson 8yo. It's matured in a Hogshead so *potentially* not as fresh and active as what Laphroaig are using as many Hogsheads are assembled from parts of older casks and the slightly larger volume means less cask interaction. The reviews I've seen are good and it's supposedly quite medicinal. I think I'll get a bottle to try.
It was from around 2000 maybe 2001 hard to remember exactly when but the potency was memorable, It wasn't travel retail it was brought from a whisky shop and it was not expensive, I already have some Williamson, also ledaig is an amazing whisky really potent, I just sent 34 bottle up to auction today, Mostly non peated whisky and some bottles that i didn't want, The is a Laphroaig 20 indy bottle all bourbon cask about 55% £250 im pretty sure I'm going to get it when my sales cash comes in I no it's a lot but for a special occasion or any occasion lol , There's also a 15 Laphroaig I think it's called wind and waves it's about the same price "definitely to much for a 15"but the 1 I'm looking at is a bourbon refill cask which really is something that really interests me I'm thinking maybe it's a more raw Laphroaig .
12 years cask strength and 130€ is obnoxious. Its creeping up to octomore price ranges, sadly those are going up hard as well. I really enjoy Laphroaig 10 CS (batch 13), but great smoky whisky are also: ledaig 10, Kilchoman, Port Charlotte Islay Barley (2013), Machrie Moor, Ardberg and so on, there are so many smokey whiskies for an affordable and fair price. you can get 2 Correyvracken for the laga, or 3-4 Machir Bay etc...
It is an obnoxious price. It really is. I think a lot of people, myself included, sometimes make the mistake of assessing whisky like this as a special release and because of that become a bit blind to the fact that it's very overpriced. Overpriced whisky is becoming normalised...
@@WhiskyLock im glad you as a whisky youtuber, even when the bottle is so good, point out that the price growth for bottlings that are just pumped up because they can is not fair. But in the end, we have alot of choices, there are so many fair priced whiskies from newer and older distilleries. 130€ can be worth a whisky, but then it really must shine as a product. And for some this laga is worth the price, for others its the kavalan single cask, or some older or some other single cask botlings :)
I sent John Campbell a DM on Instagram last year right before he left and he said only the regular 10yr uses e150, I know more than 90% of Laphroaigs casks come from Makers Mark and that’s the color of Makers whiskey and it’s natural color by law here in the U.S. I drink the CS versions of Makers and I can see the color in Laphroaigs casks.
I'm not sure what to think of that because a lot of people in Germany are saying that the label states caramel colouring. Either way, if Laphroaig want to be taken seriously they need to commit and put natural colouring on the label. Only consumer, mass market distilleries make us guess.
@@WhiskyLock would also like to add that it’s possible that e150 is used for the German market, but not in all markets, just like ABV differs by market and even bottle size like 750ml vs 700ml. If ABV for the same exact whisky and bottle size fluctuates by market, I would believe coloring does as well, but like I said, I’m seeing second full makers mark color in your glass, google image makers when you have a chance.
@@whiskyandsports2964 I would love it if the new distillery manager ditches e150a entirely and puts all the details on the label. I guess we are about to find out if those policies were from John Campbell himself or the shareholders/owners.
I guess you've seen by Bunna12CS review by now but yes 🙂 I think that if you want to spend around £75 on a bottle of cask strength whisky then it's a nice if slightly expensive buy. But harder to justify because the standard Bunna 12 is already so good! Cheers!
@@WhiskyLock thanks I think I will try the bunna 12 . I got the batch 6 10 yr glenalkie for about 60 odd quid, whisky exchange its now £100. In Manchester the lag 8 is now in Tesco, I think new in this week.
@@primalmike2484 I'm kinda speechless about Glenallachie 10CS selling for £100... I bought a bottle a few weeks ago for £60 too. That's a sudden jump... I wonder if Glenallachie put the price up or if TWE are gouging us? Thanks for the heads up on Lag 8. I want to review that one soon as well. I really liked the very first batch of 8yo they released for the 200th anniversary of the distillery. Hopefully current batches are similar.
Now why haven’t I thought to do this? I have the 2019 Lag and Laphroaig (batch 11?). I haven’t tried them next to each other but my sense is overall I would prefer the Laphroaig, certainly for the money, as you say. The Lag, though good, did not blow my mind. When I first drank it I thought: I could just have gotten the 8 year and it would be almost as good, or even Machir Bay. They seem to be a very similar style. Laphroaig is unique enough, available enough, and still (barely) priced well enough to justify a repeat buy. But, I’ll need to er…experiment to be sure.
Yes experimenting! In the interests of science of course... Welcome to the "likes Lag 12 but doesn't love it" club. We may be in the minority but we are not the only ones. That's a good point that Machir Bay is roughly a similar style to Lagavulin. Those who are disappointed with the price and weak strength of Lagavulin 16 in particular should probably give Machir a look. Regarding the battle between Laphroaig 10CS and Lag 12. It's a reasonably close call and could easily go down to personal preference of the taster... but when you factor in price it's a little more obvious which one offers better value.
You summed that up perfectly and it echoes my feelings. Lagavulin 12 is just too expensive and i think it's extremely rude for Diageo to ask £130 for it. The only way to get them to reverse that price is to stop buying it.
Yes, we should all remember to vote with our wallets and reward the kind of behaviour that we want to see 👍
Exactly, my problem with expensive whiskies is that even if I enjoy it, I sometimes find that if I feel like I overpaid, I feel like I've been let down if it doesn't over deliver!
This comparison had to be done. Beautiful!
It does all come back to Ardbeg doesn't it. Always remember and never forget the core range. (special bottlings aside).
Kilchoman single casks are coming of age. Everyday we are closer to some big peat hitters with age too.
Port Charlotte @50% is very nice while the Octomore is a whole different price range.
So what would I pay for a CS 16 year old Lagavulin? Alot? Hopefully much less than the Octomore I can't afford.
It's testament to Ardbeg that their standard OB 10yo would put up a decent fight against these two. And IMHO absolutely wipe the floor with Laphroaig 10 (40%) and Lagavulin 16.
Cask Strength Lagavulin 16? Realistically probably more than Octomore :-) Your best bet is something like the 2017 Feis bottle which was 16yrs, Cask Strength and finished in a Moscatel wine cask. Whiskyfun gave it 88/100 and it sounds fantastic. Their tasting notes sound like exactly what I want the 12CS to be. Sadly that was a very limited release 5 years ago and now sells online for around £300...
Thanks for the content two in one day!!!
Thanks for watching 😀
I remember a few years ago I was complaining about Laga 12 being £95 a bottle. Luckily back then, you could pick up batches 2011-2016 for about £80 at auction (Inc fees). I filled my boots. Still got a batch 2013 & 2015 in the stash. 2015 is my favourite. Not so ashy and very fruity. 👌🏻
2015 is also my personal favorite, glad to read this
£80 seems a lot more reasonable. There are bottles that I remember not buying in the past because of the price that are now MUCH more expensive. In hindsight they may have been bargains. Makes you wonder where it will all end...
The Lagavulin 8 48% that was on sale at tesco for £38 a bottle wasy probably 1 of the most surprising values I've seen in a while,
Im annoyed I didn't get more but it looks like it's going to be new edition for tesco so I'm guessing that it will be going back on offer like Ardbeg 10 and Talisker 10 once a month,
Also the Lagavulin 8 is An awesome whisky and a clear winner out of the 3.
Whisky auctions are a much more sensible way to buy single malts these days.... in fact they're likely to make an excellent investment for the future... Well done sir.
@10:40 fascinating point. WL, you so knowledgeable, man. Thanks for your thoughts. This Lagavulin is crispy than its predecessors. One of the best Islays I had in recent times.
Thanks Krishna! :-) Maybe one day I'll get that 16yo Cask Strength Lagavulin...
Would love to see you do a Lagavulin 8 vs Lagavulin 12
Cheers🥃
Another great thorough comparison review.
Thanks John. Great idea. I had Lag 8 vs 16 planned some time this year. Maybe I'll throw 12 in too!
Nice review. I do like the lagavulin.
Thanks! There are things that bother me about the Lagavulin 12 in particular but yes I do like it too :-) Very nice distillery.
Blocking water supply ? How un-civilized ! - - - but dang it, a great story, indeed ! ! - - - If I could chose but one, Leapfrog is my choice. Great vid.
The history and founding of Laphroaig and Lagavulin is full of jealousy and dirty deeds :-) thankfully they seem to have calmed down a bit now...
Great whiskies 👏🏻👏🏻🥃🥃
They certainly are. Icons of Islay 🥃
You got me to pour laga 2018 cs while I watched this. I have half full bottles 2017/2018 from this,summer. The 2017 is noticeably better than the latter. The 2013 CS is what got me into this distillery. I was a fews years into my whisky journey,then and tried the laga16 previously which I still think isn’t that great.
I have several bottles of the laga distiller’s edition. I also have the Talisker DE which I’ve not had side by side, but my initial nod would go Talisker’s way. The laga cs 18 has made me gun-shy to buy another CS from them. I prefer Islay matured in bourbon, especially laphroaig in bourbon. I fear Lagavulin is spreading too thin and diageo is becoming a green-eyed monster. Sad because they’ve made some of the best I ever had.
Great to know that people have been joining me with their own bottles of Lagavulin. I really want to love Lagavulin 16 but I think once you become accustomed to 46%+ or even Cask strength whisky then the shortcoming of 43% whisky become difficult to overlook.
Lagavulin are definitely cashing in on the popularity of the 12CS. I'm interested to see if the price will go up again next year and whether we're going to see the rumoured price increases across the Diageo line up. I think my next venture into Lagavulin will be the 8yo (I liked it when I tried it in 2015) because it's now looking like the only one that even stands a chance of being good value.
Any experience with the 2022 lavagulin 12 cask strength release?
Hi Bob! I had a sample of the 2022 Lag12CS blind for the vPub and honestly I found it a bit subpar compared to other batches. If I were going to buy a Lag12 right now I'd go for the 2021 if possible at the same price. Just my opinion of course!
How would you compare the Ardbeg Corryrreckan to those?
That's a great (and tough) question. Corry has always been my favourite Ardbeg other than the 10yo and I'd rate it similar to a middling batch of Laphroaig 10CS. With those strong oaky notes I think it's probably closer to Laphroaig than Lagavulin too.
Lagavulin 12 all the way! Lagavulin is a very special dram among the Islay whiskies. Way more going on and complexity than the Laphroaig. I absolutely love Laphroaig. I have duplicate bottles in my collection of Laphroaig batch 11, 12, and 13 right now. I also have a duplicate bottle of the Lagavulin twelve-year-old from 2017's bottling. The thing about the lagavulin 12 is that what makes it explode and unlock all those flavors is adding the right amount of water. Once you're able to dial in the right proportion of water (and an astonishing amount) I am telling you, you will have the tastiest whiskey you ever had. I'm talking applewood smoked bacon, hickory smoked turkey, liquid smoke, savory beef jerky, extinguished campfire wood by an ocean after a storm with all the churned up seaweed and cockle shells. Here's the best formula, pour yourself about three fingers width (forget the taster's thimble full measure, lol) of whiskey into a glass, pour a good splash (probably one finger width) water in. Man, you can cradle that whisky and enjoy all the flavors unravel for a looong time! It is expensive, but I definitely would buy a second, and third bottle, only because I want to enjoy drinking again what I discovered with the first one with second one, and I want to hang on to that third one for a special occasion. Plus, there's that awesome picture of the lion on the tube which reminds me of the Lion of Judah!
It's great to hear your passion for this Lagavulin. That's really what whisky is about and what makes experiencing it so great. I'll definitely agree that the Lagavulin has more complexity than the Laphroaig. And yes that label and tube are amazing!
3 parts whisky to 1 part water would put you at around 43%. I'll give it a go next time I have one. Cheers!
@@WhiskyLock Cheers, sláinte! Lagavulin is magical.
Have you tried Laphroaig batch 11 as on whisky fun it's reviewed as being particularly medicinal
I had a sample of #11 but that was a year that I missed getting a full bottle. I do believe it was one of the more medicinal batches. Relative to the two most recent batches, #12 was too.
I'm convinced that Laphroaig used to use refill more especially in the 80s and 90s when the whisky industry couldn't even pay there staff and most closed the doors,
I remember trying and especially nosing the Laphroaig 10 cask strength from about 2000 and it was literally pure hospital antiseptic tcp and lightly charred fruit in the background and no cask influences like they have now,
Maybe I'm imaging it but in my mind they were using a lot of refill? Did have have the money at the time to use exclusively first fill?
The price of Laphroaig is decent and you can get it for? 65,
For me Laphroaig is, better in the mouth that it is on the nose,
I'm going to give the batch 13 another go and not drink for at least a week as I don't no but I could be becoming immune to peat as I only drink peated whisky so maybe that muting the nose of the Laphroaig for me as I find them really mild?
I don't think we'll ever see a pure refill 10 cask strength thats my dream Laphroaig
There probably was more refill back then and they were using very different casks too. I think a large part of why modern Laphy is so sweet and a bit milder is those Maker's Mark casks they're using now.
You're fortunate to have tried Laphroaig Cask Strength from 2000. Was that when it was a travel retail exclusive? I've heard good things about those bottlings but unfortunately haven't tried any. They're meant to be very good and I've heard others say that they were very different to what we have now.
Have you tried seeking out Independently bottled Laphroaig? That might be the key to getting around their love of first fill bourbon. I haven't tried it but there's a bottling from Carn Mor available on Master of Malt at the moment called Williamson 8yo. It's matured in a Hogshead so *potentially* not as fresh and active as what Laphroaig are using as many Hogsheads are assembled from parts of older casks and the slightly larger volume means less cask interaction. The reviews I've seen are good and it's supposedly quite medicinal. I think I'll get a bottle to try.
It was from around 2000 maybe 2001 hard to remember exactly when but the potency was memorable,
It wasn't travel retail it was brought from a whisky shop and it was not expensive,
I already have some Williamson, also ledaig is an amazing whisky really potent,
I just sent 34 bottle up to auction today,
Mostly non peated whisky and some bottles that i didn't want,
The is a Laphroaig 20 indy bottle all bourbon cask about 55% £250 im pretty sure I'm going to get it when my sales cash comes in
I no it's a lot but for a special occasion or any occasion lol ,
There's also a 15 Laphroaig I think it's called wind and waves it's about the same price "definitely to much for a 15"but the 1 I'm looking at is a bourbon refill cask which really is something that really interests me I'm thinking maybe it's a more raw Laphroaig .
12 years cask strength and 130€ is obnoxious. Its creeping up to octomore price ranges, sadly those are going up hard as well. I really enjoy Laphroaig 10 CS (batch 13), but great smoky whisky are also: ledaig 10, Kilchoman, Port Charlotte Islay Barley (2013), Machrie Moor, Ardberg and so on, there are so many smokey whiskies for an affordable and fair price. you can get 2 Correyvracken for the laga, or 3-4 Machir Bay etc...
It is an obnoxious price. It really is. I think a lot of people, myself included, sometimes make the mistake of assessing whisky like this as a special release and because of that become a bit blind to the fact that it's very overpriced. Overpriced whisky is becoming normalised...
@@WhiskyLock im glad you as a whisky youtuber, even when the bottle is so good, point out that the price growth for bottlings that are just pumped up because they can is not fair. But in the end, we have alot of choices, there are so many fair priced whiskies from newer and older distilleries. 130€ can be worth a whisky, but then it really must shine as a product. And for some this laga is worth the price, for others its the kavalan single cask, or some older or some other single cask botlings :)
I sent John Campbell a DM on Instagram last year right before he left and he said only the regular 10yr uses e150, I know more than 90% of Laphroaigs casks come from Makers Mark and that’s the color of Makers whiskey and it’s natural color by law here in the U.S. I drink the CS versions of Makers and I can see the color in Laphroaigs casks.
I’m saying it’s natural color.
I'm not sure what to think of that because a lot of people in Germany are saying that the label states caramel colouring. Either way, if Laphroaig want to be taken seriously they need to commit and put natural colouring on the label. Only consumer, mass market distilleries make us guess.
@@WhiskyLock I agree, maybe new distillery manager takes the consumer serious and puts it on the label.
@@WhiskyLock would also like to add that it’s possible that e150 is used for the German market, but not in all markets, just like ABV differs by market and even bottle size like 750ml vs 700ml. If ABV for the same exact whisky and bottle size fluctuates by market, I would believe coloring does as well, but like I said, I’m seeing second full makers mark color in your glass, google image makers when you have a chance.
@@whiskyandsports2964 I would love it if the new distillery manager ditches e150a entirely and puts all the details on the label. I guess we are about to find out if those policies were from John Campbell himself or the shareholders/owners.
Have u tried the bunna 12 cs yet? Does this stack up well against these? Anyone seen the lag 8 in tesco yet?
He reviewed bunna 12cs
@@DominikK45 thanks, i must of missed it.
I guess you've seen by Bunna12CS review by now but yes 🙂 I think that if you want to spend around £75 on a bottle of cask strength whisky then it's a nice if slightly expensive buy. But harder to justify because the standard Bunna 12 is already so good! Cheers!
@@WhiskyLock thanks I think I will try the bunna 12 . I got the batch 6 10 yr glenalkie for about 60 odd quid, whisky exchange its now £100. In Manchester the lag 8 is now in Tesco, I think new in this week.
@@primalmike2484 I'm kinda speechless about Glenallachie 10CS selling for £100... I bought a bottle a few weeks ago for £60 too. That's a sudden jump... I wonder if Glenallachie put the price up or if TWE are gouging us?
Thanks for the heads up on Lag 8. I want to review that one soon as well. I really liked the very first batch of 8yo they released for the 200th anniversary of the distillery. Hopefully current batches are similar.
Now why haven’t I thought to do this? I have the 2019 Lag and Laphroaig (batch 11?). I haven’t tried them next to each other but my sense is overall I would prefer the Laphroaig, certainly for the money, as you say. The Lag, though good, did not blow my mind. When I first drank it I thought: I could just have gotten the 8 year and it would be almost as good, or even Machir Bay. They seem to be a very similar style. Laphroaig is unique enough, available enough, and still (barely) priced well enough to justify a repeat buy. But, I’ll need to er…experiment to be sure.
Laphroaig batch 011 is really good and like you said, price point is amazing. Diageo over pricing their products ruins it for me.
Yes experimenting! In the interests of science of course...
Welcome to the "likes Lag 12 but doesn't love it" club. We may be in the minority but we are not the only ones.
That's a good point that Machir Bay is roughly a similar style to Lagavulin. Those who are disappointed with the price and weak strength of Lagavulin 16 in particular should probably give Machir a look.
Regarding the battle between Laphroaig 10CS and Lag 12. It's a reasonably close call and could easily go down to personal preference of the taster... but when you factor in price it's a little more obvious which one offers better value.