Finlaggan Original

27 April 2019

There aren’t many whiskies we can get for under €20 that always seem to deliver. But this bottle of Finlaggan nails it every single time.

For those who don’t know Finlaggan, it’s from an undisclosed distillery from Islay and there’s little to no doubt that it’s Lagavulin. What we have here is the ‘Original’, which offers the straight forward bourbon matured Islay style. It’s bottled at 40% and that works very well in this case, the complexity is definitely there:

Tasting notes

Nose

Quite the complex nose: Salted meat, aniseed, cooked ham, rosemary, apple, charcoal, a minuscule trace of sulphur, mashed apples, rhubarb and sweet smoked barley. Just like the Laga and Caol Ila peated barley we got to taste at their tours.

Palate

Soft and buttery, liquorice root, juicy citrus, very gentle and pleasant in the mouth.

Finish

Liquorice, salted meat, sulphur, lime, apples and breadcrumbs.

The nose is definitely more complex than the palate and finish, but in this case I honestly don’t really mind. It’s very pleasant stuff, with lots of savoury/salty notes and fruits. If I should name one whisky that offers value for money, this would be my first choice. This one is definitely not inferior to the more than twice as expensive Lagavulin 8yo, despite the lower ABV. I’m looking forward to trying the cask strength version!