Lagavulin 11-year-old (Bottled 2013), The Manager's Dram / 57.1%/ 0.7l

Manager's Dram is a collectible whisky series initiated by United Distillers in the 1980s and later continued by Diageo.

These whiskies were selected by the group's distillery managers during blind tastings and were originally intended exclusively for the group's employees. The Lagavulin 11 years old presented here, aged in an American oak barrel, was selected by a panel of Diageo managers in December 2013 and bottled at barrel strength (57.1% abv). Lagavulin is currently the second most popular single malt from Islay, with annual sales of over 2 million bottles. The distillery, equipped with two pairs of stills, operates seven days a week, which translates into 2.6 million litres of distillate per year.

Nose : peat smoke and sea breeze, seaweed salad, vanilla, apples, lemon and orange peel, licorice, fennel, smoked ham, traces of tar and engine oil.

Palate : smoky and hospital, iodine, smoked oysters, lemons, grapefruit, apples, white pepper, vanilla, salted peanuts, a pinch of ginger, a touch of ash and oak.

Finish: long, with notes of peat smoke, sea breeze, vanilla, toffee, licorice, citrus, lemongrass and oak.