A mate tips a finger of Lagavulin 8 into your glass at his kitchen bench, says nothing, and waits. You've had the 16. You've not had this one. It's pale in the glass, so you brace for something thin, and then it isn't thin at all.
Here's the thing worth knowing before you buy your next bottle. If Lagavulin 8 is your pour, an Ardbeg Wee Beastie gives you about 92% of what your own bottle does, for 81% of its price. Same corner of Islay, most of the same pleasure, a chunk less at the till.
Lagavulin 8 is light in colour but not light in character. The nose heads straight for the shore, all mineral and sea salt, with a sweetness underneath that keeps it fresh and lively rather than heavy. The palate brings menthol, a little bay laurel, more brine, a hint of malt, and a floral lift of Parma violet. It drinks breezy, like peat smoke carried off a kiln into salt air.
Three bottles sit close enough to pour instead.
Port Charlotte 10, usually around $146. Butterscotch and a subtle sherry note, iodine that stays polite, smoke that leans meaty. To a Lagavulin 8 drinker it gives about 97% of what the Lagavulin 8 does, for 129% of its price.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie, usually around $106. Wood smoke and a phenolic punch, black pepper, sour lemon, then chocolate raisin and bacon fat. To a Lagavulin 8 drinker it gives about 92% of what the Lagavulin 8 does, for 81% of its price.
Laphroaig 10, $109 this week. Brine-laden peat and iodine, charcoal, old fabric sticking plaster, a sweeter fruit note underneath. To a Lagavulin 8 drinker it gives about 80% of what the Lagavulin 8 does, for 96% of its price.
Lagavulin 8 is $113 at Dan Murphy's this week, which is about where it usually sells. That works out to roughly $4.26 a pour at home, against about $6.28 for a standard drink's worth of a $13 pint at the pub. A night in comes in cheaper than a night out.
Now the other side of it. What would the drinkers of the bottles nearest Lagavulin 8 pay for it, each starting from what they pay for their own? A Caol Ila 12 drinker would hand over about $81, which is 59% of what their own bottle costs them, marking it down mostly for being younger than theirs and for being stronger. Turn it around, and a Lagavulin 8 drinker puts Caol Ila 12 at about 80% of their own bottle, marking that one down for being older and lighter in strength. Across those nearest bottles the answers run from $71 to $141. At $113, this week's price sits inside that spread.
So who's it for? If Lagavulin 8 is already your bottle, nothing here asks you to change; $113 is about what it usually costs, so restock without a second thought. If you drink Caol Ila 12 and want more weight on the palate, the 8 is an easy step across. If Ardbeg Wee Beastie is your regular, you already have most of the Lagavulin for less, so buy the 8 when you want the sweeter, breezier take on the same idea. And if Laphroaig 10 is your home base, the 8 is the gentler, saltier cousin, worth a bottle for the weeks you want the smoke to travel lighter.
None recorded.
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