1/Two rungs on the Lagavulin ladder this week: the 8 at $99 and the 16 at $160. Both are born on the same Islay shore, so the real question isn't whether a Lagavulin 8 drinker would enjoy the one above — it's what another eight years in the cask actually hands over, and whether anyone settled on the 16 would miss much by stepping down. Let's climb, then climb back.
2/The step up is $61 and eight years. Where the Lagavulin 8 is all breezy shore — mineral, salt, a sweet freshness — the 16 settles into something deeper and darker: iodine and rich peat, caramel and sherry, a spicy, tarry finish that lingers. Going up, the Lagavulin 16 gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 71% of what the Lagavulin 8 does, and what's different is mostly those eight years. Coming back down, the Lagavulin 8 gives a Lagavulin 16 drinker about 70% of what the Lagavulin 16 does, for 62% of its price.
3/So, a yes for each. Love the Lagavulin 8? The 16 is worth meeting on the night that wants more weight and a little time to sit with it. Live with the 16? The 8 holds its own on an ordinary evening. Per standard drink it's about $3.73 for the 8 and $6.74 for the 16, either side of the roughly $6.28 a pub pint works out to once you split it in two. More is not always better — sometimes it's just older.
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