Lagavulin is a distillery on Islay's south coast, between Ardbeg and Laphroaig, where John Johnston started legal distilling in 1816.1,2,3 Records show illicit distilling on the site as early as 1742.3,4,5 Peter Mackie created the White Horse blend in 1890, and Lagavulin is an important part of it.2,6,7Diageo has owned Lagavulin since 1997.2,3
Less heat than I was expecting. Very smooth. Lots of delicate flavors break through the characteristic Lagavulin smoke and peat — vanilla, charcoal, lemon peel,…
Archibald Campbell built a second distillery on the site in 1816, though other records say 1817.3,7,8 In 1825, Johnston also took over the neighbouring Ardmore distillery, closed since 1821.2,8,9 He stopped production at Ardmore in 1835.2 After Johnston died in 1836, Glasgow spirit merchant Alexander Graham took over, and the Grahams leased the distillery from the Kildalton estate.2,3,10 Other records list Donald Johnston as owner from 1837 to 1852.2,7,8 In 1837, the two distilleries were merged and run as Lagavulin.2,4,9 The buildings were extended in 1849, with new roads and access.3 John Crawford Graham took over the distillery in 1852.2,7,8
John Crawford Graham went into partnership with James Logan Mackie, who was left in charge from 1856.3 Accounts differ on when J.L.Mackie and Company took possession: Barnard's account, as a heritage record gives it, says 1835, others 1862 or 1867.2,7,11 His nephew Peter Mackie joined the firm in 1878 and made the first of many trips to Lagavulin.2,3,5 In 1887, Alfred Barnard's book The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom described 2 old pot stills and malt dried only over peat.10,11,12 The distillery made 75,000 gallons a year, largely for blending but also sold as a single whisky.10,11
In 1941, the distillery closed for the rest of the Second World War.2 A fire broke out in 1951, and the rebuild brought the mash tuns fully under cover.2,9 Malt Mill closed in 1962, and its pear-shaped stills moved into a rebuilt Lagavulin still house.2,4,13 All 4 stills were converted to steam heating in 1969.2,9,10 The floor maltings shut in 1974, and malt has since come from Port Ellen Maltings.2,4,15
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 1951.
Next: War, fire and new stills, A sought-after single malt, Recent managers, How the spirit is made
In 1986, Guinness bought the Distillers Company, and Lagavulin passed to United Distillers.2,3 When Lagavulin 16 Year Old joined the Classic Malts in 1988, its owner thought its smoke too much for most drinkers.2,16 Instead it became a runaway success and had to be put on allocation.2,16 In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo.2,3
Georgie Crawford became manager in 2010, the first woman to run Lagavulin.3,17 In 2018, she left to bring Port Ellen Distillery back into production, and Colin Gordon of Port Ellen Maltings took over.3,18 In 2020, Colin Gordon left to run Ardbeg, and Pierrick Guillaume, who had worked in management at Caol Ila, took over.3,19,20 Jordan Paisley, who had worked with the team since 2019, took over in 2022.3,19
How the spirit is made
Its water comes from Lochan Sholum, and a legal battle fought by Peter Mackie gave Lagavulin sole rights to the stream.2,4,21 Mackie held that this water, running over peat and moss, gave the whisky its flavour.2,4,21 Its malt is heavily peated, taking in some 20 times more peat smoke than an average Speyside malt.2,7,9 It has 10 wooden washbacks, the vessels where fermentation happens.2,10,15 Fermentation lasts at least 55 hours, and one source says up to 75 hours.2,9,10 Lagavulin has 2 wash stills for the first distillation and 2 spirit stills for the second.3,8,15 The spirit is double distilled in copper pot stills that use shell-and-tube condensers, which cool the still vapour.2,15 Diageo calls its stills pear-shaped, but other sources describe them as plain or onion-shaped.2,3,22 Difford's Guide says the pear shape and a slow distillation, around five hours for the first run and more than nine for the second, give Lagavulin its roundness.2,3,22 It can make about 1,400,000 litres of alcohol a year.3,4
Very good rating, 85–89 range
