It is abundantly clear to me that Big Alcohol has an army of clever marketers who could spin straw into gold, sell sand to the Arabs. Each time LVMH or Diageo or the like releases a highly-anticipated special cask-finished limited edition bottling that retails at twice or thrice the price of a similar core range product, I grit my teeth and hold myself back. Okay, not really. I am completely at the mercy of these marketers. I empty my life savings on these shiny NAS bottlings, picking them like a magpie to shiny trash.  “A Tale of Cake”? Well f*k me if I do not have a taste of this. “Rich Cacao”? Don’t you hold me back!

But while we hope for the best, we’re realistic about it. I don’t expect to be blown away, and I’m usually pleasantly surprised when said special cask-finishing actually make me like the whisky significantly more than its novelty factor.

So, when Whisky Advocate named the Lagavulin 11 Year Old Offerman (2^nd Edition) as its top whisky of 2021, I was a little surprised. Celebrity endorsement is a hackneyed trick in the marketer’s toolbox, and most of us can’t help feeling a little cynical about them. Yet it seemed that many reviewers were very positive about this expression. This is more than a marketing ploy. People genuinely enjoy it.

Now, the Lagavulin Offerman Edition is a limited edition series of slightly younger Lagavulin bottled in collaboration with actor Nick Offerman, best known for portraying Ron Swanson – an idiosyncratic libertarian in American sitcom Parks and Recreation. Most fanfare surrounded the second Offerman edition which was released in 2021, slightly fancier due to its 5 months of finishing in barrels that previously held Guinness beer.

The problem with celebrity-endorsed drinks is that they often seem to lack spontaneity and authenticity. Matthew McConaughey gushes a little too much over Wild Turkey whiskey. Mila Kunis became the spokesperson for Jim Beam Bourbon and helped expand its consumer base of young females. Yet Kunis herself admitted that she had only gotten into whiskies after trying some Islay Scotch from Ashton Kutcher.

Lagavulin and Ron Swanson doesn’t feel that way. If you’re a fan of Parks and Rec, you’d know about Ron Swanson’s famous love Lagavulin single malt. There was even an episode where Ron Swanson visited Lagavulin Distillery and bought it with a small fortune. Quite fitting considering Ron Swanson’s stereotypical masculine personality and Lagavulin’s branding as the most well-known smoky Islay Scotch. Keep in mind that none of these cameos were sponsored by product placement advertisements!

Ron’s extreme love for Lagavulin was written into the script by showrunners based on Nick Offerman’s real life love for the Islay malt. So, as far as celebrity endorsements go, this seems as honest a deal as you could have it.

Anyway, being the sucker that I am for chasing such hype, I had to get myself a bottle. Let’s get to tasting it.

Lagavulin 11 Years Old (2nd) Offerman Edition, Finished in Guinness Casks, 46% ABV – Review

Colour: Pale gold, sunflower oil – exactly the same appearance as the Bruichladdich Classic Laddie.

On the nose: Clean, aromatic, ashy with a gentle orchid fruit richness.

The first time I uncorked this, there is a certain whiff of beer hops that I tragically couldn’t quite find again when nosing the spirit – this is the closet I got to detecting the Guinness cask influence on the nose.

The nose is a little shy and takes a good 3 to 5 seconds to open up. It’s mainly citrus and barbecue smoke, with classic Lagavulin touch of dirty, briny sea spray – I’m definitely getting grilled lemons with singed rinds.

There’s some heat to be felt. Coarse ground black pepper follows closely after. This is a little more heat and pepperiness than the Lagavulin 16. Heat and spice mercifully balanced by a layer of orchid fruit richness – something of a cross between apples and pears.

The aroma develops towards clean aromatic herbaceous notes – eucalyptus and somewhat pine wood odours, and the musky perfumery smell of Innisfree Silver Grass perfume diffuser.

Palate: Medium bodied with a lightly oily texture.

Ashy smoke hits you at the first sip – but not of the same intensity as the Laga 16 or the Ardbeg 10. Peat and heat really. We get the dying embers of a barbecue and a mildly sweetened floral tea that takes a bit of time to build.

Lemons, green grapes, some tart fruits and a zesty, effervescent bite – kinda like a dry but fresh Extra Brut Veuve Clicquot.

Compared to the Laga 16, this is slightly brinier, less sweet and much more zesty and peppery. What’s noticeably (and unsurprisingly) absent are the sherry notes like the raisins, sultanas and red fruits, since this is entirely matured in ex-bourbon casks and ex-Guinness casks. And while this is a lot less smoky, we get a bit closer to the elements with more rawness of youth.

Adding a small capful of water brightens the fruit notes. We get some sweeter candied pear notes without abatement of pepperiness. Some vanilla, some dry wood.

The finish: Fairly short with fading notes of chrysanthemum tea and dry ash. Right towards the end there is even some trace bitter notes of dark roasted barley and savoury Brand’s Chicken Essence – the Guinness casks finally making a cameo I suppose.

My Take 

I can see why this has earned the praise of many. This is a bright and vibrant Lagavulin with an uncharacteristic restrained smokiness that leaves room for more subtlety and complexity of the spirit to show. No sherry cask influence either. This is why we get more grassiness, more herbaceous piney notes, some wood spice and so on.

But your enjoyment of this really boils down to your subjective expectations of the dram. When I drink a Lagavulin, I have grown to expect its classic intensity. I enjoy the richness, heavy smoke and jammy red fruits and sherried notes that offer depth and balance from the peat. I’m also more accustomed to the more luxuriated texture and understated spice of the older expressions.

So, tasting the 2^nd Offerman edition, I couldn’t shake the image of a watered-down tea from my mind.

Am I being unfair for comparing an 11-year-old with a 16-year-old? They retailed within the same price range.

All of this isn’t to throw shade on the majority of reviewers who genuinely enjoyed the Offerman. As David Fleming of Whisky Advocate explained, “peat is not always for everyone.” Indeed, for many people I personally know, this understated style of Lagavulin is much more enjoyable. To my mind, this just isn’t a classic.

@CharsiuCharlie