Lagavulin Offerman Edition “Charred Oak Cask” 11 Year Old / 46% / $130 CAD
Tasted neat
The 11 year old Lagavulin Offerman Edition “Charred Oak Cask” is the third entry and second followup to the original Nick Offerman collaboration, this time offering Lagavulin aged in charred American and European oak casks that previously held scotch or wine.
An interview in Forbes with Nick Offerman offers some additional context:
[It] uses American red wine and European oak casks that have been shaved down before being heavily re-charred. Deviating from the previous Offerman Editions, the spirit was fully matured for at least eleven years in these barrels — versus a shorter term cask finishing.
- Color: russet (1.3)
- Nose: heavily peaty, salt brine, iodine, burnt plastic, sour mash, and black pepper
- Taste: some plastic, wet wool, briney brisket ends, port wine, and a lot of woody oak
- Finish: long, winey sweetness gives way to a little peatiness which gives way to charred oak
Ultimately, I liked this version 3 less than version 1 of the collaboration. This is not terrible whisky, but full-maturation in heavily charred STR casks means that a good deal of the clarity and brilliance of what can make Lagavulin so good (as you see in some of those older 12 year CS bottlings) becomes muddy, and overly woody.
This reminds me a lot of where the OB 16 Year Old is sitting right now, and I don’t mean that in a complimentary way.
Rating: 4/10
