A single cask of Lagavulin distilled in 1997 and bottled at 20 years old under Diageo's Casks of Distinction label. Each cask in the programme is bottled on its own, so this whisky exists only in the number of bottles one cask could fill.
About This Whisky
Casks of Distinction is Diageo's programme for selling individually chosen casks from its reserves, usually bottled at natural strength for a private buyer or a specialist retailer. This one was filled in 1997 and carries cask number 0002, so every bottle comes from that single cask rather than a vatting.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Sea spray, iodine and peat smoke, with charred oak and a hint of dried fruit.
- Palate: Oily and rich, with salted caramel, black pepper, ash and deep, mature wood.
- Finish: Savoury, with embers and coastal spice slowly fading.
Serving & Food
A single cask at this age deserves time: pour into a tulip glass, sip neat first, then try it again with a splash of water. Serve with pan-roasted venison, smoked cheeses or very dark chocolate.
How to Enjoy
Lagavulin collectors and Islay drinkers after a single, numbered cask with two decades of age.
Product Details
Distillery: Lagavulin (Diageo)
Series: Casks of Distinction
Style: Single cask single malt Scotch whisky
Region: Islay, Scotland
Age statement: 20 years old
Distilled: 1997
Cask number: 0002
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Lagavulin's character comes as much from its methods as from its peat. The malt is peated heavily at the nearby Port Ellen maltings, and fermentation runs long. Distillation is slow, around five hours for the wash run and more than nine for the spirit run. That gentle pace gives the spirit time to pick up copper contact, which is often credited with the rounded, oily weight behind the smoke.