Lagavulin 14yo Fèis Ìle 2026 & Laphroaig 13yo 2012 Cask #802 Fèis Ìle 2026

Lagavulin 14yo Fèis Ìle 2026

Region: Islay

ABV: 56.5%

Price: £240.00

Released for Fèis Ìle 2026, this 14 year old Lagavulin was finished for five years in Oloroso seasoned American oak casks before bottling at cask strength. The release was selected by distillery manager Jordan Paisley, with an outturn of 1,752 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with an initial sweet and sour mix, there's a little Irn-Bru, copper coins, moving into milk chocolate, smoked nuts and a medium, sweet and medicinal peat smoke. There's some bandages and antiseptic cream appearing on the nose, mixed in with leather, grape must and some red berries that begin to appear as we sit with the dram. The alcohol is nicely balanced, not overly warm, and there's a bit of a meatiness coming through as air gets in - beef steaks on the barbecue. 

Palate

The palate opens with lots of candied ginger, vermouth, toffee, menthol and orange rind. It's really juicy, expressive, and perhaps a little overly sweet in places, but this is brought back with some chili warmth and sour plums. There's also something a little bubble-gummy about this, fairly artificial in nature, some blue raspberry and boiled sweeties too. The peat is quite restrained, it's more of a background characteristic, presenting more as an earthy, vegetal backbone to the dram. The mouthfeel is good too, fairly sticky and syrupy.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has more of a chocolate note, confectionery, roasted nuts, brown sugar and a few berries starting to appear. It feels more sherry-forward, sweeter, nuttier, and the smoke has faded even further into the background. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate continues with the bubblegum, artificial sweetness, but there's a bit more cask char and vegetal peat starting to poke through. It's still very juicy, sour blueberries and a bit of candied ginger. 

Conclusion

A well done additional oloroso maturation - the 5 years hasn't overpowered it, there's lots of the dark fruits, nuts, leathers and meaty sherry notes that have integrated well into the spirit. It's balanced, expressive, and really quite tasty. 

Score: 8/10

Value

Another year, another horrible overpriced festival bottle from Lagavulin.

Laphroaig 13yo 2012 Cask #802 Fèis Ìle 2026

Region: Islay

ABV: 58.8%

Price: £???

Distilled in 2012 and bottled on 14 May 2026 after 13 years of maturation, this Fèis Ìle 2026 single cask Laphroaig was matured in ex bourbon barrels before being finished in a red wine barrique. Outturn of 250 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with dark chocolate, oatcakes, slightly burnt oak, and lots of liquorice. Behind this sits fish oil tablets, freshly cut grass and ginger snap biscuits. It's fairly dry, not overly tannic but quite bitter in nature - not in a bad way, just a drier profile of whisky. There's some alcohol behind it, but it feels integrated enough, and the nose is quite expressive. The smoke is fairly restrained, and doesn't immediately jump out to us as Laphroaig.

Palate

The palate opens with a lot of red fruit, jammy strawberry, raspberry and plum, mixed with some sweeter ginger notes, black pepper spice and some lemon juice in the background. The peat smoke is more prominent here, a little vegetal, burnt leaves, and a little medicinal, more fish oil, and rubber gloves. The mouthfeel is good, there's a nice texture, and the alcohol is fairly well balanced, there's a warmth but it adds to the dram. There's a tiny bit of sulphur, struck match flavour, coming through as we continue to sip.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels a little fresher, greener, herbal almost. There's less of the dark, burnt notes, and they've been replaced by sweeter oak and fruit from the red wine cask. There's a bit more of an antiseptic note now coming through, more stereotypical Laphroaig.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate is much sweeter, lots of candied ginger, lemon peel, sugar crusted mint leaves, chocolate coins and red berries. The smoke is more savoury now, a little salty, some honey roasted peanuts and a little antiseptic too.

Conclusion

The nose isn't overly Laphroaig forward for us, but the palate brings more of the distillery character out. The red wine has brought quite a lot of aroma and flavour, red fruits, dark chocolate, but fortunately missed some of those tannic notes you can sometimes find in red wine maturations. A solid dram.

Score: 7/10

Value

We’re not sure of the price of this one, but if any of our readers do we’d be interested to know.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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