The Auld Alliance

ISLAY

Dry smokiness, with complexity through the phenols.' Most refer to Lagavuin as the driest of the Islay malts, with a smokiness akin to Lapsang Souchong tea. Lagavulin (Laga-voolin) means 'the hollow where the mill is.'

Perhaps 'the hollow where the still is' would be a better description since it is believed that there were up to ten illicit stills in this area in the mid eighteenth century with Lagavulin itself being established in 1816. It is now one of Diageo's flagship 'Classic Malt' and is certainly one of the most robust, peaty Islay malts around.

This is not, perhaps, a malt for beginners. There are four relatively small, fat stills and according to the owners this spirit "receives the slowest distillation of any Islay malt - around five hours for the first distillation and more than nine hours for the second is the norm". It is this slow distillation that gives the malt its characteristic roundness and soft, mellow edges. Fermentation of the barley is a slow process. Fermentation is also slow - between 55 and 75 hours - which the distillers say allows a fuller, richer peatiness to come through. It is mainly matured in refill European oak casks.

The malt is used in the White Horse blends (sparingly, we suspect) which was created by Peter Mackie, who was nicknamed "Restless Peter" by his staff for his tireless work. He founded Malt Mill distillery which opened next to Lagavulin in 1908 and closed in 1960.