As is widely known across the whiskysphere, 2016 sees the Lagavulin distillery celebrate its 200th Anniversary. No one celebrates a 200th birthday lightly, and Lagavulin has been widely praised for the release of its limited edition (but widely accessible and affordable) celebratory 8yo in honour of the occasion. Whisky & Wisdom had an early taste of this, and wrote up a piece about the distillery and the whisky back in April. You can read that piece and the review on the 8yo here.
However, more recently – and closer to home – the 8yo had its local launch in Australia just a few weeks ago. Held at The Wild Rover in Sydney’s Surry Hills, the launch was not just the unveiling and tasting of the whisky, but it was also an incredible virtual reality (VR) tour of the distillery.
Whisky fans all over the world make pilgrimages to Scotland to visit their favourite distilleries, but it’s a long journey and an expensive undertaking – particularly when you start from as far away as Australia! Even for those who actually get to Scotland, that extra little westward hop, step and jump to get to Islay is often a bridge too far. For many Islay fans, they must be content to simply look at online photographs and watch videos of the distilleries from the comfort of their homes.
Lagavulin has taken that one extra step. Using VR technology, the folks at Diageo have put together an amazing audio & visual experience that – if not literally, then certainly figuratively – transports you to the distillery and takes you right through the place. And, courtesy of some well-timed atomised sprays and fragrances that were employed on the night, you could also smell the distillery. Given that we could also taste the whisky on the night, the launch event of the 8yo engaged four of our five senses. In short, we could see, hear, smell, and taste Lagavulin. And it was wonderful.
Of course, I’ve had the privilege of visiting Lagavulin many times over the years. (Four times out of six visits to Islay!) For someone who’s never been to Islay or the Lagavulin distillery before, I imagine the VR experience would have been unique, interesting, and a little quirky. However, as someone who’s walked all around the place many times, I was astounded at how real the VR tour was. “Good to be back!” I exclaimed, as my goggles came to life.
The VR tour starts you on the pier at Lagavulin; takes you out to the peat fields; out to a barley field; and then through the various production houses at the distillery (e.g. the stillhouse and the warehouse, etc). What I’d never appreciated with VR is that no matter which way you turned your head, you’re seeing the real view….360 degrees in all directions. It is alarmingly accurate and representative of being in the real place.
Sitting in chairs on the night with the headsets on and taking in the sights and sounds of Islay, you are of course oblivious to what is taking place in the room around you. As the VR tour took us on our journey, staff wandered from table to table, injecting, spraying or inserting various scents under our noses: The salty, seaweedy seaspray as we stood on Lagavulin’s pier, looking back to the distillery. The unmistakable smell of burning peat wafted up our nostrils as we viewed the kilns. (Not Lagavulin’s kilns obviously – they were decommissioned many years ago). The fragrant, perfumed scent of new make spirit permeated the air whilst we stood in the stillhouse. It was engaging stuff and, again, as someone who’d been therefore before, it brought the memories and experiences flooding back.
With the VR experience behind us, attention turned to the whisky itself. Host and MC for the evening was Sean Baxter, Diageo Australia’s national Johnnie Walker & Classic Malts Ambassador. Sean espoused the history and philosophy of the Lagavulin Distillery, and the drams flowed simultaneously: The classic 16yo. The 12yo cask-strength. And the new kid on the block, the 8yo. To expand the culinary aspect, the whiskies were paired with two classic foods that worked wonderfully with the drams, namely freshly shucked oysters, and dark chocolate truffles. And, like all good whisky events, the night kicked on!
All in all, a great event and a fitting launch for the Lagavulin 8yo. And if the Lagavulin Virtual Reality Tour train comes to your town, be sure to jump onboard – it’s a ride worth taking.
Cheers,
AD
