Great review of a well crafted young spirit. Lagg is a firm favourite of mine, love the peaty ones. I agree about the stopper, it’s a pain get past that shrink wrapped capsule.
Considering how many distilleries start with ‘Glen’, i’m not sure how strong any argument from the SWA would be! A close friend has a bottle of this hidden away so will be sniffing it out….Thanks again for making my Tuesday morning commute much more palatable
Thanks Koski. I think you're probably right and they'll be fine. You'd like to think the SWA would have raised any issues by now if they were going to...!
@@WhiskyLockOne would hope... Box had to change their name to High Coast after Compass Box objected, though, so stupid things can and will happen. (Incidentally, I haven't bought Compass Box since that happened and I'm unlikely to ever buy more. I don't like bullies.)
Nice Shane, glad you liked this one. A simple, delicious, to the point peat bomb of a whisky. Absolutely loved this one and I also love the design of the bottle and the cork :)
The rounded stopper may not be practical in any way, but at least it looks terrible! I like the smoky glass, though, and the label is pretty sharp. And in the end none of that even matters. I'm glad this stuff is good... I'm going to miss the Machrie Moor as well. I always felt like that was a great effort. Still bright and fruity Arran malt, but peated. Really nice stuff.
That gave me a good laugh 😂 Machrie Moor was good stuff. Underappreciated. Perhaps even by Arran themselves who didn't seem to talk about it much when I was there. Maybe giving peated 'Arran' it's own brand will be the breakthrough it needs.
Thanks for the review - I’ve been waiting for this one! The original distillery is named the Lochranza distillery. Isle of Arran distillers owns both distilleries 🙂
I wonder if we're about to get a rebrand to change all of the unpeated packaging to 'Lochranza Distillery' 🤔 I think it would be a shame in a way to lose the Isle of Arran Distillery branding... but probably necessary! Thanks for watching 🥃
@@WhiskyLock it says Lochranza distillery on the bottle in raised lettering already. Doubt they would do another rebrand after spending all that money on one in 2019, but I guess we’ll have to see. As long as the whiskey stays amazing, I’m good with anything!
Thanks for the recomendation. Got my bottle a month ago or so, and I just love it. We definetely share the same taste in whisky. Keep up the good work!
Great to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying this one as much as I am. When it comes to new distilleries we probably stand a better chance of getting something good from peated offerings I think, as heavily peated malt can benefit from a short maturation. I'm very excited to see more of these peat experiments that Lagg mentioned. Cheers 🥃
I’ve had the new make spirit from Lagg. No cask influence at all. Had it first in a bar and then I bought a small bottle online. Very cool and tasty (and unique) experience.
I woke up to this this morning as a surprise birthday present had a few laggs when we stayed in arran last winter looking forward to this . I've had machrie moor quarter cask and was disappointed aa I'm a huge quarter cask fan with laphroaig and Arran regular quarter cask. I treated myself to a springbank 10 year old as well . Im lucky my specialist whisky shop is 1 minute from my flat and 4rth shop from my flat 3 of them are in a row . The springbank 10 was only £65 that's a lit cheaper than any price I've seen online or in town . I never thought i would ever have a bottle of springbank 10 because so over priced and out of stock hard to find .
It seems I'm alone in enjoying Machrie Moor Cask Strength at least. I will admit that it's not quite on par with Islay peated malts though. I have higher hopes for Lagg. Cheers 🥃
Definitely advise waiting a bit longer. I live here and they have been selling it from day 1 and it still tasted good, so there's a lot to look forward to. The distillery is very new and absolutely worth the tour.
I really enjoyed the very polished tour at Lochranza. We were lucky enough to have Billy as our tour guide. Absolute legend. Hopefully I'll get to do the Lagg tour too one day. Cheers 🥃
Bravo 👏 Shane. I think young peated whisky sings better than older ones. 7- to -15 yo is my sweet spot for heavily peated bottlings. Thanks for a fine review as always. Kind regards, S.
Absolutely. While old whisky can give flavours that you can't get from young whisky, the same is also true about young peated malt. A simple and intense pleasure. Cheers Sandro 🥃
My girlfriend paid £54 for this yesterday in our local whisky shop looking forward to trying it tonight as I'm a fan of bold flavours and peaty bourbon malt .
Hey Shane, thank you for another great review! Considering to buy this one now, after flirting with the 46% Machrie Moor for a while. I wondered if you’d care to compare the two, since they both are initiated by Lochranza distillery? About the name ‘Lagg’, I understood this is chosen in hommage to a local southern Arran distillery which shut down in 1840, perhaps this explains. Cheers!
Hi Simone! I haven't had Machrie Moor for a few years but I think this early release from Lagg is a bit more aggressive, dirty and oily. It's a real characterful peat which is glorious at a young age IMHO. Yes there was a Lagg distillery before. Situated in the place of the same name in which the new Lagg distillery has been built. I believe it was the last to close out of the many, many distilleries that used to be on Arran. Cheers 🥃
This was a very interesting video , thanks for sharing . This one sounds wonderful to me .. but I always have an issue with new whisky at £50 plus. My first whisky love was Laphroaig 10 which for me is the bottle I compare all other peated whisky to because of its flavour and price point. I’m intrigued with this one though and will try it ..I just get the feeling if this is an early release then any future bottlings are going to be more than I want to pay. 😊
Thank you for another honest review. Always interesting listening to you. I think people complaint with solid reasons about the pricing of the myriad of Tik Tok'ish ultra young single malts at high prices, but I am sure they are still selling them, as people is now ok with loud/bold statements without depth or complexity (not only in whiskies). At this pace, Cutty Sark Prohibition could repeat as whisky of the year :) . Cheers Sean!.
Thanks John 👍 after all the new distillery releases I've covered this year I feel it would be rude not to have one as my whisky of the year... New distilleries are very much the hot topic of the moment. We shall see 🙂
Hey Shane:) I've been hoping that you review at least one of the Lagg core expressions before the end of the "whisky form new distilleries" series. So, thanks for this review! Lagg Kilmory Edition is on my buying list. It is the only Lagg whisky available in Bulgaria. It arrived almost two months ago and the price is quite reasonable - roughly the equivalent of 42 pounds by current exchange rates. I might even add a bottle of Kingsbarns "Dream to Dram" bottling, which costs only a couple of pounds more and it also seems to be of fairly high regard these days. Cheers!
Thanks Nikolay. I really enjoy both Kilmory and Dream to Dram. Sounds like you can get them for a fair price too. Interestingly I believe that Kilmory is Lagg's first core range product so should be around for a while. On the other hand Dream to Dram is now discontinued so may not be around much longer. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLockI'm not concerned about "Dream to Dram" going out of stock at all. Kingsbarns whisky (Dream to Dram, Balcomie, Balcomie CS and Distillery Reserve 2021) arrived just earlier this year and all expressions are still available. The brand is unknown for most of the whisky drinking people and sadly is unaffordable for most of my compatriots. Most of Bulgarians can't tell the difference between malt and blended whisky and associate the drink with mass market brands which are considered a luxury.
Interesting review. Agree with you with regards to the stopper. As for the naming, I don't think there will be any issues with lagg. It is a hamlet on the island after all. But we'll have to see. Sometimes common sense and logic doesn't prevail in such matters.
Yes common and sense is not always that common 😉 I think they'll get away with it... you'd like to think the SWA would've mentioned it by now if they were going to. I'm now off to file a flat onto that stopper 😉
I finally got my bottle, and opened it right away. Very impressed with this (a bit less with the Corriecravie. First impression are just alright). But as an ardent advent calendar follower there is only one question: compare this to the smoky scot?
It is a very impressive young peater! 🙂 Compared to Smoky Scot I think the Caol Ila is a bit brighter, fruitier and also a bit more medicinal. Lagg is perhaps a bit smokier. Both great whiskies and I would buy both again. Smoky Scot wins on value though.
£54 is a great price! If you lived in Australia that is. All Lagg releases costs us £100! ($200) lol - then some retailers had the nerve to mark them up because they're limited!
I feel your pain. I really do... I also hope for more importers who don't believe in gouging people! Perhaps contact Arran/Lagg and tell them about your problems? If they hear from enough people who can't buy their whisky then maybe they'll do something... 🤞
@@WhiskyLock great idea! I'm also just having a moan about our Alcohol Sin Taxes in Australia, they're astronomical, they double the price of every bottle lol
Certainly lots of lemon in this one - which I love. It may round off. If not then I think it also works wonders for home blending. A little goes a long way to add character to less interesting malts. Best of luck 🥃
Hey Shane, might you start to become a bit entitled and snobby here, critisizing a distillery for not disclosing barley and yeast types (Diageo, are you listening?)? Love it! Anyway, I would have expected you to make a remark on the very stylish but desperately unpractical cork stopper. Mine keeps rolling away and dropping on the floor whenever I pour a dram. So annoying. (Edit: next time better wait for the end of the review before writing a comment, haha!). But, good review! Myself, I am a bit on the fence on this one. Perhaps I need it to age a bit more. Now some of the flavour notes that have not yet convinced me remind me slightly of the aspects of Octomore that I am not particularly fond of either. Oh well, must be me. And I have not yet finished the bottle, so I might still change my mind. Cheers!
Great minds think alike Wouter 😉 That cork is a couple minutes with a file away from being perfect... I actually thought of you when I was tasting this one and suspected that you would prefer a bit more age being the well aged peat connoisseur that you are. Personally I enjoy both styles of peat. I also enjoy Octomore but the prices I enjoy Octoless! Diageo listening? No 🙂 although I have recently been enjoying a 5yo Caol Ila which isn't a million miles away from this... but it is cheaper. 46% and £28... of course it is an IB! Cheers 🥃
High praise either way. It has an ashy quality I'd associate with Lagavulin though. Which considering the natural presentation and ABV makes the price more appealing.
Great review of a well crafted young spirit. Lagg is a firm favourite of mine, love the peaty ones.
I agree about the stopper, it’s a pain get past that shrink wrapped capsule.
My favorite mixture is Lagavulin 8 with a dozen drops of Eagle Rare. The ER added some fruity and oak flavors that really rounded it out.
Considering how many distilleries start with ‘Glen’, i’m not sure how strong any argument from the SWA would be! A close friend has a bottle of this hidden away so will be sniffing it out….Thanks again for making my Tuesday morning commute much more palatable
Thanks Koski. I think you're probably right and they'll be fine. You'd like to think the SWA would have raised any issues by now if they were going to...!
@@WhiskyLockOne would hope... Box had to change their name to High Coast after Compass Box objected, though, so stupid things can and will happen. (Incidentally, I haven't bought Compass Box since that happened and I'm unlikely to ever buy more. I don't like bullies.)
@@jasoncoates1835 How long will it be until *High* West Rendezvous object? 🙄 Lawsuits against your competition is never a good look!
@@WhiskyLockHa... yeah, total agreement here.
Closest to an islay peat that I've tried. Reminds me of a good finlaggen .
Ah great to see it. Was waiting for this review for days ❤
Thanks for yet another interesting and informative review, Shane.
Slàinte mhath
Slainte PH 🥃
Nice Shane, glad you liked this one. A simple, delicious, to the point peat bomb of a whisky. Absolutely loved this one and I also love the design of the bottle and the cork :)
It's a fantastic dram. We all have our differing opinions on young whisky but it's pretty hard to argue against young heavily peated malt 👍
The rounded stopper may not be practical in any way, but at least it looks terrible!
I like the smoky glass, though, and the label is pretty sharp. And in the end none of that even matters. I'm glad this stuff is good... I'm going to miss the Machrie Moor as well. I always felt like that was a great effort. Still bright and fruity Arran malt, but peated. Really nice stuff.
That gave me a good laugh 😂
Machrie Moor was good stuff. Underappreciated. Perhaps even by Arran themselves who didn't seem to talk about it much when I was there. Maybe giving peated 'Arran' it's own brand will be the breakthrough it needs.
Great review, thanks 🙏
Yes peated malts are great young .
Nice review... Very enjoyable as the spirit itself!
High praise indeed 🙂 Cheers 🥃
Thanks for the review - I’ve been waiting for this one! The original distillery is named the Lochranza distillery. Isle of Arran distillers owns both distilleries 🙂
I wonder if we're about to get a rebrand to change all of the unpeated packaging to 'Lochranza Distillery' 🤔 I think it would be a shame in a way to lose the Isle of Arran Distillery branding... but probably necessary! Thanks for watching 🥃
@@WhiskyLock it says Lochranza distillery on the bottle in raised lettering already. Doubt they would do another rebrand after spending all that money on one in 2019, but I guess we’ll have to see. As long as the whiskey stays amazing, I’m good with anything!
Thanks for the recomendation. Got my bottle a month ago or so, and I just love it. We definetely share the same taste in whisky. Keep up the good work!
Great to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying this one as much as I am. When it comes to new distilleries we probably stand a better chance of getting something good from peated offerings I think, as heavily peated malt can benefit from a short maturation. I'm very excited to see more of these peat experiments that Lagg mentioned. Cheers 🥃
I’ve had the new make spirit from Lagg. No cask influence at all. Had it first in a bar and then I bought a small bottle online. Very cool and tasty (and unique) experience.
I had no idea they sold that. Very tempting! I love a good new make. Cheers 🥃
I woke up to this this morning as a surprise birthday present had a few laggs when we stayed in arran last winter looking forward to this . I've had machrie moor quarter cask and was disappointed aa I'm a huge quarter cask fan with laphroaig and Arran regular quarter cask. I treated myself to a springbank 10 year old as well . Im lucky my specialist whisky shop is 1 minute from my flat and 4rth shop from my flat 3 of them are in a row . The springbank 10 was only £65 that's a lit cheaper than any price I've seen online or in town . I never thought i would ever have a bottle of springbank 10 because so over priced and out of stock hard to find .
It seems I'm alone in enjoying Machrie Moor Cask Strength at least. I will admit that it's not quite on par with Islay peated malts though. I have higher hopes for Lagg. Cheers 🥃
Definitely advise waiting a bit longer. I live here and they have been selling it from day 1 and it still tasted good, so there's a lot to look forward to. The distillery is very new and absolutely worth the tour.
I really enjoyed the very polished tour at Lochranza. We were lucky enough to have Billy as our tour guide. Absolute legend. Hopefully I'll get to do the Lagg tour too one day. Cheers 🥃
Bravo 👏 Shane. I think young peated whisky sings better than older ones. 7- to -15 yo is my sweet spot for heavily peated bottlings. Thanks for a fine review as always. Kind regards, S.
Absolutely. While old whisky can give flavours that you can't get from young whisky, the same is also true about young peated malt. A simple and intense pleasure. Cheers Sandro 🥃
My girlfriend paid £54 for this yesterday in our local whisky shop looking forward to trying it tonight as I'm a fan of bold flavours and peaty bourbon malt .
Sounds like it's your kind of thing. Hold on tight! 🥃
Hey Shane, thank you for another great review! Considering to buy this one now, after flirting with the 46% Machrie Moor for a while. I wondered if you’d care to compare the two, since they both are initiated by Lochranza distillery? About the name ‘Lagg’, I understood this is chosen in hommage to a local southern Arran distillery which shut down in 1840, perhaps this explains. Cheers!
Hi Simone! I haven't had Machrie Moor for a few years but I think this early release from Lagg is a bit more aggressive, dirty and oily. It's a real characterful peat which is glorious at a young age IMHO.
Yes there was a Lagg distillery before. Situated in the place of the same name in which the new Lagg distillery has been built. I believe it was the last to close out of the many, many distilleries that used to be on Arran. Cheers 🥃
This was a very interesting video , thanks for sharing . This one sounds wonderful to me .. but I always have an issue with new whisky at £50 plus. My first whisky love was Laphroaig 10 which for me is the bottle I compare all other peated whisky to because of its flavour and price point. I’m intrigued with this one though and will try it ..I just get the feeling if this is an early release then any future bottlings are going to be more than I want to pay. 😊
It will be worrying if future, older releases go up and up in price. Hopefully that won't be the case! 🤞
Thank you for another honest review. Always interesting listening to you. I think people complaint with solid reasons about the pricing of the myriad of Tik Tok'ish ultra young single malts at high prices, but I am sure they are still selling them, as people is now ok with loud/bold statements without depth or complexity (not only in whiskies). At this pace, Cutty Sark Prohibition could repeat as whisky of the year :) . Cheers Sean!.
Cutty Sark Prohibition at Antalya/Turkey Airport week ago for €33 1L Bottle. Wanderfuly. 👍😁🥂🙋🏻♂️l
Thanks John 👍 after all the new distillery releases I've covered this year I feel it would be rude not to have one as my whisky of the year... New distilleries are very much the hot topic of the moment. We shall see 🙂
Hey Shane:) I've been hoping that you review at least one of the Lagg core expressions before the end of the "whisky form new distilleries" series. So, thanks for this review!
Lagg Kilmory Edition is on my buying list. It is the only Lagg whisky available in Bulgaria. It arrived almost two months ago and the price is quite reasonable - roughly the equivalent of 42 pounds by current exchange rates.
I might even add a bottle of Kingsbarns "Dream to Dram" bottling, which costs only a couple of pounds more and it also seems to be of fairly high regard these days.
Cheers!
Thanks Nikolay. I really enjoy both Kilmory and Dream to Dram. Sounds like you can get them for a fair price too.
Interestingly I believe that Kilmory is Lagg's first core range product so should be around for a while. On the other hand Dream to Dram is now discontinued so may not be around much longer. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLockI'm not concerned about "Dream to Dram" going out of stock at all. Kingsbarns whisky (Dream to Dram, Balcomie, Balcomie CS and Distillery Reserve 2021) arrived just earlier this year and all expressions are still available. The brand is unknown for most of the whisky drinking people and sadly is unaffordable for most of my compatriots. Most of Bulgarians can't tell the difference between malt and blended whisky and associate the drink with mass market brands which are considered a luxury.
Interesting review. Agree with you with regards to the stopper.
As for the naming, I don't think there will be any issues with lagg.
It is a hamlet on the island after all. But we'll have to see. Sometimes common sense and logic doesn't prevail in such matters.
Yes common and sense is not always that common 😉 I think they'll get away with it... you'd like to think the SWA would've mentioned it by now if they were going to.
I'm now off to file a flat onto that stopper 😉
You have left to review one more whisky from a new distillery, “Arrival” from Holyrood Distillery😉
🤬 😂 I swear there's one every month!
the folks at Arran confirmed they are no longer making the Machrie Moor, so it will be hard to find in a few years
Makes sense to split peated and unpeated production. It will be very interesting to compare an old Machrie Moor to a new Lagg though 👍
I finally got my bottle, and opened it right away. Very impressed with this (a bit less with the Corriecravie. First impression are just alright). But as an ardent advent calendar follower there is only one question: compare this to the smoky scot?
It is a very impressive young peater! 🙂
Compared to Smoky Scot I think the Caol Ila is a bit brighter, fruitier and also a bit more medicinal. Lagg is perhaps a bit smokier. Both great whiskies and I would buy both again. Smoky Scot wins on value though.
£54 is a great price! If you lived in Australia that is. All Lagg releases costs us £100! ($200) lol - then some retailers had the nerve to mark them up because they're limited!
I feel your pain. I really do... I also hope for more importers who don't believe in gouging people! Perhaps contact Arran/Lagg and tell them about your problems? If they hear from enough people who can't buy their whisky then maybe they'll do something... 🤞
@@WhiskyLock great idea! I'm also just having a moan about our Alcohol Sin Taxes in Australia, they're astronomical, they double the price of every bottle lol
I wish i liked it but the lemon/ginger note was just too sour for my taste. I'll leave it for a few months and hopefully it will round off.
Certainly lots of lemon in this one - which I love. It may round off. If not then I think it also works wonders for home blending. A little goes a long way to add character to less interesting malts. Best of luck 🥃
@@WhiskyLock i'll try that too.
any idea what would blend and de-emphasize the sourness ?
I was thinking naked malt maybe...
@@Soldano999 great idea. Something sherried would be my first suggestion 👍
Top, nice one Lock. Folks remember vote OSWA
Hey Shane, might you start to become a bit entitled and snobby here, critisizing a distillery for not disclosing barley and yeast types (Diageo, are you listening?)? Love it! Anyway, I would have expected you to make a remark on the very stylish but desperately unpractical cork stopper. Mine keeps rolling away and dropping on the floor whenever I pour a dram. So annoying. (Edit: next time better wait for the end of the review before writing a comment, haha!). But, good review! Myself, I am a bit on the fence on this one. Perhaps I need it to age a bit more. Now some of the flavour notes that have not yet convinced me remind me slightly of the aspects of Octomore that I am not particularly fond of either. Oh well, must be me. And I have not yet finished the bottle, so I might still change my mind. Cheers!
Great minds think alike Wouter 😉 That cork is a couple minutes with a file away from being perfect...
I actually thought of you when I was tasting this one and suspected that you would prefer a bit more age being the well aged peat connoisseur that you are. Personally I enjoy both styles of peat. I also enjoy Octomore but the prices I enjoy Octoless!
Diageo listening? No 🙂 although I have recently been enjoying a 5yo Caol Ila which isn't a million miles away from this... but it is cheaper. 46% and £28... of course it is an IB!
Cheers 🥃
It is round 45.- EUR in our market - a really reasonable price... 65.- EUR I would consider to expensive...
€45 is a great price for this 👍
🥃👍🏻😊
I’d say it’s more like a young ledaig than Lagavulin
High praise either way. It has an ashy quality I'd associate with Lagavulin though. Which considering the natural presentation and ABV makes the price more appealing.
10 to 20 year's people still enjoying fine malt is very optimistic and unlikely.
I hate to think what will still be available and affordable from the old distilleries then...