It’s often fun to check a longstanding bottling against older examples of itself and spot differences and similarities. Companies are banging on endlessly about consistency so it’s always interesting to see how things change over time. Particularly with iconic and distinctive examples such as Lagavulin 16 year old. Lets have a few today, in quick fire succession, starting with the most recent...

Lagavulin 16 yo (43%, OB, White Horse Distillers, 75cl, -/+ Late 1980s) This is one of the earliest batches of the 16 year old, a UK market version this one. Colour: Gold, a notch lighter than the others. Nose: We’re in different territory again, this is a more even balance between sweet, whispering peats and more luscious, up-front fruit qualities. Banana, pineapple, greengage, a little mango. Then iodine, old rope, hessian, tar liqueur and brine. Quite magnificent and more towards a fruitier, older style of Islay whisky. Mouth:    Gah! Magnificent! Old rope, tar, peat, various oils, fruit liqueurs, oysters, lemon peel, crystallised tropical fruits. A whole other ballpark this stuff! Camphors, resins, smoked tea, black olives, earth, sandalwood, the list goes on and on... call that brigade of yours Serge! Orange blossom and medical tinctures emerge with a little more time. But then, you could write an essay about a whisky like this so we’ll just stop here I think. Finish: Full spectrum: coastal to sweet; deep peat to fragrant smoke; green to tropical. Beautiful and not a little humbling. SGP: 447 - 93 points.

It can’t have escaped your attention by now that Loch Lomond’s new owners are making more effort and more noise about their various distillates. I for one am quite delighted as there was a sense with the old owners that their cask selection policy was very much one of ‘fling a handful of pennies into the warehouse and bottle what they hit’.

Loch Lomond 18 yo (46%, OB, +/-2017) Colour: Orangey gold. Nose: Quite a clean aroma, full of baked apples in butter, freshly baked bread, raw barley and various other cereals. Not to complex to begin with. The label mentioned peat smoke which seems curious as there is a distinct absence of phenols here. Develops along the lines of orange skins, herbal sweets, some slightly overripe fruits and various resins. Quite lovely really and very approachable. With time some notes of fresh American oak begin to arise; suggestions of sawdust, wood shavings and pencils. These characteristics dominate a little after some time suggesting some wood technology at play. Mouth: Orange liqueur, cloves, nutmeg, a little cardboard, oatmeal and a lick of paraffin. Some notes of lemon rind and sage emerge along with more wood sweetness and some syrupy, slightly artificial fruit notes like juicy fruit chewing gum. Not too thrilling in all honesty. Finish: Medium length with resurgent notes of cardboard and porridge. Some green and slightly leafy notes such as tobacco and final flourish of green apple peelings. Comments: I feel this bottling has been touch and go since it was released, for me there are better official - and contemporary - bottlings of Loch Lomond. But it’s still perfectly drinkable, just feels a bit ‘doctored‘ with wood to me. SGP: 532 - 77 points.

Inchmoan 12 yo (46%, OB, +/- 2017) Colour: Orangey gold again (I wonder if there isn’t a little caramel at play in these whiskies?) Nose: A pleasing and oatmeal rich smokiness that suggest bonfires, a little brine, some dried kelp and old ropes. There’s also a very easy coastal edge with some lemon peel and notes of wet beach pebbles and fresh oysters. This could almost be a lighter Islay whisky. Some sheeps wool, a little gorse and some gently smouldering peat embers. Quite lovely really. Mouth: Surprisingly big and tarry. Notes of lanolin, peat oils, kippers, gravadlax, parsley and various other dried herbs and shellfish qualities. Goes on with a little iodine, some white pepper and a bit of citrus and green fruitiness. Finish: decent length with a lean mineral edge and some lingering peat oils, a little ashiness and some soot. Comments: Simple but clean, flavoursome and - dare I say it - fairly priced. I feel this is a lot more ‘together’ than the Loch Lomond 18. That and it’s a perfectly lovely peated malt in its own right. Surprisingly coastal. SGP: 447 - 83 points.

Balvenie is one of those distilleries that many well-worn whisky enthusiasts tout as maintaining some serious character and quality while many of its contemporaries seem to fade with homogenisation.

Balvenie-Glenlivet 13 yo 1979/1992 (46%, Cadenhead, Original Collection) Colour: White wine. Nose: Pure barley juice. Oats, buttered toast, cereals, wet grains, hummus, some mineralic gravely notes and some barley sugar sweetness. Goes on with grass, hay, some stables and even a lick of wet dog. A little grassiness, a few simplistic green and garden fruits. A banana skin or two. All very pleasant, clean and fairly classical. Mouth: In keeping with the nose this is perfectly balanced, pretty classical Speyside whisky with a lovely and very fresh cereal, barely-sweetness balanced by a little vanilla and spice from the wood and some grassiness and a kind of generic green fruitiness. More buttered toast notes, muesli, a gloop of porridge. It’s highly drinkable but a tad boring I must confess. Finish: medium length with a soft spiciness that carries notes of star anise and liquorice. Maybe a tiny whiff of camphor and green tea. Comments: It’s pleasant enough, but I feel this could be almost any decent Speyside single malt from the last 30 years or so. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the kind of whisky you can almost drink without noticing. Or plop and ice cube in on a summer afternoon. SGP: 431 - 79 points. 

Balvenie-Glenlivet 15 yo 1979/1995 (57.8%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection) Colour: Chardonnay. Nose: Probably from sibling stocks, you can feel an immediate and close identity with the 13yo. However, this one veers in a drier direction; notes of chalk, fresh linen, sunflower oil and sourdough bread. There is still a light, gravelly mineral quality to this one but it’s more towards white fruits with a few assorted herbs and wild flowers. More interesting for sure. With time a slightly citrus edge emerges. With water: Not too much movement really. More of these kind of linen notes, even a lick of washing powder which I’m undecided about to be honest. On the other hand there’s a more easy citrus quality and further pleasant cereal and floral aspects. Mouth: Quite shy at first with a subtle mineral edge, some natural barley sweetness, gomme syrup, greengages, a little sootiness and some notes of clay and ink. With water: again water doesn’t bring too many changes really. Perhaps a little white pepper and some more sweetness. A scraping of orange peel? Finish: Not the longest. Plenty cereals and light fruits but feels a little hollow. Comments: Hmmmm. Some parts are superior to the 13yo, others weaker. On the whole it feels a little disappointing to be honest. Same score I think. SGP: 341 - 79 points.