Lagavulin Distillery
Much has been written about the Isle of Islay and Whisky. Of the many distilleries on the island, it is the three on the southern coast that arguably encapsulate most what is thought of when describing ‘Islay Whisky’. Ardbeg, Laphroaig and of course Lagavulin.
Situated at the head of a small bay in sight of the ruin of Dunyvaig Castle, Lagavulin Distillery which was founded in 1816, couldn’t be more picturesque. In 1887 Alfred Barnard found the location quite to his liking…
‘From Ardbeg our route homeward lay through the beautiful village of Lagganmhoullin or Lagavulin, “the Mill in the Valley” and no prettier or more romantic spot could have been chosen for a distillery.’
Illustration courtesy of The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, Alfred Barnard, 1887
If you’re travelling to Islay and you’re not flying then you’ll have the pleasure of the two hour ferry trip from Kennacraig to one of the island’s two ports. No trip on a Calmac ferry would be complete without a photograph of the iconic red / black /white paint work.
The fantastic view of Lagavulin Distillery from the main road as you approach. Like many of the traditional Islay distilleries, Lagavulin exhibits the iconic whitewashed stone look commonly found on the island.
Upon entering, the visitor centre is exactly what you’d want from a heritage distillery. Lots of frosted glass, wood panelling and hand painted type give a really nice, authentic, early 20th Century feel to the place. Although undoubtedly newer, you really can imagine what these spaces could have been like when the likes of Peter Mackie was shaping Lagavulin into what it would become in the late 1800’s.
Nowadays Lagavulin is owned by Diageo and while retaining a lot of historical practices has also been modernised in line with 21st Century distilling.
The tour starts in the old kiln area which is no longer in use as Lagavulin no longer malts or dries its own barley instead sourcing malt from the nearby Port Ellen maltings. As the tour begins, guests are handed a dram of Lagavulin 16. This is a really nice touch as all too often distilleries seem to keep the drams as a quite separate thing from a tour. Anyone who has undertaken a warehouse tasting will tell you how evocative having a dram within a ‘working’ area of the distillery can be.
From here we move on to see the fantastic old Porteus Mill before witnessing waters being added to the stainless steel full lauter mash tun.
Lagavulin’s larch washbacks as the yeast goes to work.
The four dumpy Lagavulin stills in the still house. Sometimes referred to as ‘pear shaped’ stills, the two wash stills have a fantastically dramatic bend in the lyne arm. Unfortunately photography was quite restricted within the still house so we were limited to take photographs from the one spot.
From the still house we took a walk to the pier which affords brilliant views of the castle ruin and across open waters to the Kintyre peninsula and Northern Ireland if you’re lucky.
We don’t visit a warehouse on our tour, which is a shame, so it’s back to the visitor centre to sample some drams. On this tour we taste the 8 year old, 16 year old and the current distillers edition. I had it in mind to pick up a bottle of the 8 year old but it’s more expensive at the distillery than can be found online so pass on that. The distillers edition is on offer, although still feels expensive, but as I’ve been trying to pick up a distillery specific bottle where possible I end up buying a bottle despite my reservations.
Much has been written about Diageo’s disappointing approach to pricing, particularly when it comes to Lagavulin 16 so I won’t add anything new here although I will say that this being my first Diageo owned distillery tour, I was expecting a degree of stiffness or corporate commerciality. Instead what we got was a really informative and easy going tour from our guide Chloe which felt authentic and full of that laid back Islay charm that always seems to greet you on the island. As mentioned previously, the dram of the 16 year old at the old kilns to kick off the tour really set the tone for a lovely visit.
Lagavulin Bay not looking too dissimilar to how Barnard found it in 1887. ‘No prettier or romantic spot could have been chosen’ for a distillery.