Follow Us:

Blog

Day 15 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 15, 2025

by Evan

It is a bit surprising that we have not yet had a bottling from Lagg Distillery in our whisky calendar’s prior to this. We enjoy championing new and young distilleries and sharing their bottlings and discussing how they came to be.

The fanfare surrounding Lagg and its first releases has seemed quiet and even a bit unhurried in comparison to other young distilleries that reside within Scotland and abroad. We haven’t seen the pomp and circumstance around each new release and that manic energy that sometimes borders on desperation in the effort to get bottles of Lagg in front of consumers. There has not been that same urgent hustle to get sales of the young whisky and sell a half dozen different releases of the same product in a marginally different cask that many young distilleries and companies are forced to push because they need to see some sort of cashflow coming back in in the hopes of justifying the coin investors have already sunk into the project.

Maybe I am just not seeing it with Lagg and this is all actually happening in the background. Or, perhaps because with, Lagg, this not the Isle of Arran Distillers’ first time launching a new brand. They have done this before, and they can take a more steady, measured approach to building an audience for their whisky. They have been there and done that with the Lochranza Distillery, which celebrated it’s 30th birthday this year. You cannot sprint to the 30 year mark – it takes time to get there. About 3 decades worth of time, if my math is correct.

I had a chance to visit the Isle of Arran and both the Lochranza and Lagg Distilleries on a trip to Scotland in 2019. Undoubtably, a few things have changed in the intervening years. For one, Lagg did not yet have whisky when I was there, but I did get to taste spirit. It was burly, coastal, quite peated and impressively viscous in style. Tasting that new make was a solid confirmation that the company behind both distilleries was not just trying to create a second Lochranza Distillery. It even differs stylistically from Lochranza’s own peated spirit, which is usually bottled under the Machrie Moor label. And why should they? Lochranza does its style just fine, thank you. Lagg has had its own character from the get-go, and it will be fun to watch how it evolves as its stock continues to mature. Just like many of us have been fortunately to watch happen over the past few decades with Arran/Lochranza.

The Lagg Kilmory Edition that we will be tasting today is one of two releases in the core range currently available. Shall we give it a go?

Lagg Kilmory Edition – 46%

For the Kilmory Edition, we use Concerto malted barley and pure water from our borehole. Our carefully selected yeast and fermentation time allow us to craft a full-bodied flavor with a vibrant, fresh taste profile, setting the foundation for the future of Lagg Single Malt. The peat's influence, combined with the vanilla and creamy notes from American oak, creates the distinctive character of Lagg Single Malt.

The Kilmory Edition captures the 'house style of Lagg,' focusing on Bourbon Barrel maturation with our peated spirit.

Evan’s Tasting Note 

Nose: Plenty of salty, briny, and coastal notes along with a lingering smokiness. Lemon poppy seed muffins, light olive oil, pea shoots, candied ginger, tuna sashimi, grilled scallops, hints of lavender, and cinnamon hearts. 

Palate: An intriguing clean smoke and coastal combination. Hints of miso soup, lemongrass, apples and pears, chamomile tea, grilled prawns and scallops, and a touch of honey and lemon lozenges. 

Finish: Clean and refreshing, with plenty of coastal notes along with light orchard fruits holding on until you take another sip. 

Comment: For having such an oily and coastal spirit, this whisky is remarkably clean when it is matured in ex-Bourbon casks. Great stuff from a young distillery. 

Man, this really reminds me of the Port Askaig 17 year old in a good way. If Lagg is this good at sub 10 years old, it will be great when it matures into a teenager and eventually adulthood. 

Cheers,

Evan

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

Recent Posts
Archives

Categories