Lagavulin or Laphroaig – which is better?

It’s the question every Islay whisky fan asks themselves at some point in their whisky journey:  Laphroaig or Lagavulin – which one is better?  Is there a definitive answer?  Yes, there’s some juicy stuff we can explore over the next minute or two…

For the sake of this comparison, let’s get a few obvious things out of the way first:

• Both whiskies come from Islay, and yes, they are next-door neighbours, just one mile apart from one another.

• They both make heavily peated, smoky, medicinal whisky.

• Laphroaig is owned by Beam Global (now Suntory!) and Lagavulin is from the Diageo stable, one of their original “Classic Malts”.

• The flagship expression of Laphroaig is the 10 Years Old, whilst the flagship expression of Lagavulin is the 16 Years Old. Thus, any comparison of these great whisky brands has to take into account a six year age difference.  (Well, at least in terms of their flagship expressions! That being said, Lagavulin appears to have manoeuvred in recent years to steer its fans towards its younger 8yo expression, while Laphroaig has heavily pushed its NAS range.)

• There are numerous expressions in Laphroaig’s core range (e.g. Select, Quarter Cask, Triple Wood, PX Cask, the Cairdeas releases, and older variants such as the 18yo and 25yo).  However, for Lagavulin, the core-range alternatives are much thinner on the ground – depending on which market you’re in, you may be able to source the Distillers Edition version and/or the 12yo Cask Strength expression.  The special 200^th Anniversary 8yo released in 2016 has now been succeeded with a standard 8yo expression in many markets.   Lagavulin has also featured prominently in some of the recent annual Diageo Special Releases selections.

• Laphroaig is relatively easy to find amongst the independent bottlers. Lagavulin, on the other hand, is rarely seen or bottled by the independents.

• By Scotland’s standards, they’re both small-to-medium sized distilleries. Lagavulin’s capacity is around 2.6M litres of alcohol per year; Laphroaig is a bit larger at 3.3M. (For context, Caol Ila – the largest distillery on Islay – has a capacity of around 6.5M, whilst the likes of Glenlivet and Glenfiddich can churn out up to 21M.  Source: The Malt Whisky Yearbook)

Given that flavour perception and brand allegiance is so subjective, it’s a brave person who asserts that distillery X is better than distillery Y.  So rather than suggest which of these two distilleries is better, let’s instead explore why you might prefer one over the other…

Making broad, sweeping statements about certain distilleries or whiskies is increasingly fraught with danger these days, as there seems to be an exception to every rule. For example, you can’t make the simple statement that Ardbeg peats its malt to 55ppm phenols, when it has produced heavier peated expressions (Supernova, and now Hypernova!) and lighter expressions (Blasda). But we’ll make a few generalisations now, and ask that the more precise readers don’t get too distraught if we blur a line or two.

Generally speaking, Laphroaig peats its malt to 35ppm. Officially, that’s the same peating level as Caol Ila and Lagavulin. However, long term Lagavulin fans would be aware that Lagavulin used to peat much higher than this – for a good stretch back in the late 20^th century, it was typically around 50ppm.  The decision to reduce the peating level back to 35ppm was made in the mid 1990’s, and so from 2010 onwards (as the casks containing the lower peated spirit reached 16 years old), the vattings for each release were carefully blended to manage the transition, so that Lagavulin fans didn’t wake up one day and notice a sudden change!  What we’re saying, however, is that if you can compare a Lagavulin purchased today with one that was available on the shelves in the 2000’s or earlier, you’ll notice a very discernible difference. (More info on that is here)

Of course, the malt’s simple phenol rating in ppm is merely one contributor to a whisky’s final style and flavour, and there are many other influencing factors. The best way to appreciate this is to look specifically at Lagavulin and Caol Ila for a moment. Both distilleries use precisely the same, identical malt, sourced and peated to the same specification, and produced at the same maltings, namely Port Ellen. However, the two whiskies share very little in common when it comes to the final flavour, and – to the palate – one tastes peatier than the other, even though they both started with malt that was peated to the same level.

Why is this? The answer is a little scientific: (1) Lagavulin ferments for 55 hours, Caol Ila for 80 hours. (2) Caol Ila’s stills are tall and plain, Lagavulin’s are described as “plump”. (3) The stills at Lagavulin are charged to 85-95% capacity, Caol Ila to 50%. (4) Lagavulin takes a wider cut of the spirit run, from 72% ABV down to 59%, while Caol Ila collects just from 75% down to 65%.  These are dry facts that may not interest all readers, but each one has a profound effect on the final character of the spirit, and each goes a long way to explaining why the flavours and textures from each distillery are so markedly different…and why one is peatier than the other – even though they both started out with the same basic ingredient!  (Bear in mind that we haven’t even put the spirit into wood yet!)

So it is for these reasons and more that Lagavulin and Laphroaig will always offer you a different experience, even though they both use malt with similar peating levels. (For a more in-depth exploration of peat levels and phenol ppm, you can read our article here). But it’s also worth exploring the differences in the physical peat they actually use!  For starters, Laphroaig’s barley comes from three different sources: Roughly 15% is malted at the distillery in the traditional way using local, Laphroaig peat. (More on that in a moment). Of the remaining 85%, the majority comes from Port Ellen, and some from Crisp Maltings on the mainland.

And this is where a primary difference between Lagavulin and Laphroaig is discernible on our palate: Malt made at Port Ellen uses Lagavulin’s / Diageo’s peat, which is dug from a bog at a very different location and altitude to Laphroaig’s peat bog. The peat bog at the lower altitude, which in millennia past may have been below sea level, has a much brinier, seaweedy composition than the peat from the other field. So if you’ve directly compared Lagavulin and Laphroaig and felt that one seemed more maritime-like, with perhaps a saltier tang or a more seaweedy undertone, then this might well explain it. (So which distillery owns which peat bog? Taste the two whiskies and tell us what you think!)  And for those who argue as to whether or not salt and environment plays a role during maturation, we could also consider whether the casks were matured on Islay or whether they were transferred to the mainland and matured halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh!  (At the risk of crushing any romantic notions you may have had, not much Lagavulin is actually matured on Islay!)

And so, ultimately, it comes down to what floats your boat. At 10 years old, the Laphroaig is a bit more vibrant and energetic. At 16 years old, the Lagavulin is slightly more refined and genteel (noting that peatiness diminishes with time in the cask).  To many palates, Laphroaig offers a green, mossy bonfire smoke and a sweeter malt, whereas Lagavulin offers a drier, toastier, more maritime experience, and certainly with more iodine.

Or, if you move away from the flagship expressions, is it fairer to compare, say, Laphroaig Select against Lagavulin 8yo?   The age gap certainly narrows in this comparison and, at eight years old, the earthiness of the Lagavulin peat is more prevalent.  The difference in RRP also narrows at this point. 

So let’s answer the very original question:  Which one of these is better?  Whichever one is within arm’s reach!

Cheers,
AD

PS: You might also like to read our feature article, The complete guide to peat and peated whisky

PPS:  Lagavulin appears in Whisky & Wisdom’s feature article, “The most beautiful distilleries in Scotland”, which you can read here.

PPS: You might also like our article, Islay – Its distilleries and its whiskies

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Author: AD

I'm a whisky writer, brand ambassador, host, presenter, educator, distillery tour guide, reviewer, and Keeper of the Quaich. Also the Chairman and Director of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) in Australia since 2005. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @whiskyandwisdom and also on YouTube at /c/whiskyandwisdom View all posts by AD