Lagavulin for Iain McArthur
Fans of Islay whisky, and especially those who have visited or intend to visit the island, are certainly aware of the changes that have taken place in the staffing of Lagavulin. We are primarily talking about the retirement of one of the more recognizable and charismatic figures, namely Iain McArthur, who manages the distillery's warehouses.
Iain McArthur began his career at the Port Ellen distillery, from where he quite quickly went to Lagavulin. For half a century there, he was engaged in a variety of activities - from digging peat to caring for whisky maturing in warehouses to conducting the now legendary tastings. It is worth realizing during the "smoky" tasting that if you hold a bottle of Lagavulin in your hand, it is almost certain that this is the whisky that Iain McArthur just handled. Distillers and distillery managers changed, and he invariably reigned supreme in the distillery warehouses and made sure that our whiskey matured in the best possible conditions.
Lagavulin Distillery decided to honor its long-time employee and released a special edition whisky. Lagavulin 18yo Iain's Farewell Dram (58.7% vol.) is a whisky that was personally poured into a barrel 18 years ago by Iain McArthur, and hand-poured into bottles and labeled in the first half of December with his own hands. The barrel in question is a second-fill manzanilla sherry, in which the described whisky spent the entire maturation period. In this way, only 212 bottles of whisky were created, which in its aroma and taste offers notes of smoldering wood, ripe fruit from the orchard and aromatic spices.
Priority purchase was given to Iain's family members and friends. The remaining bottles were put up for sale at the distillery. However, as there was a great deal of interest, with only 18 bottles left for sale, it was decided to sell by lot, the so-called "ballot. ballot. The cost of buying a single bottle is £350.
The House of Whisky Online offers a selection of whisky from Lagavulin distillery, including at least a few rare, collector's editions. We invite you to visit.
[27.12.2023 / photo: Lagavulin]