The Islay distillery of Lagavulin celebrates its continuing sponsorship of the Hebridean island's jazz festival with this pair of limited edition releases. It is the first time that two whiskies have been released for the annual event, which was held between October 7 and 9 this year. One is exclusively on sale at the distillery and the other to a wider audience.
The first bottling - the Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 7 years old - is available for those unable to attend the festival (pictured, above right). It is on sale via malts.com. It features a combination of ex-bourbon and re-fill American oak hogshead casks and is bottled at the natural cask strength of 59.5% ABV. There are just 2,490 bottles and each will cost £95.
The second bottling is the distillery exclusive Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival 14 years old (pictured, above left). This has been matured in re-fill American oak barrels before a five year finishing period in ex-brandy casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 55.4% ABV and there are just 3,000 bottles in the batch. The packaging features highlights from previous editions of the festival on the famous whisky island. A bottle will cost £220.
Both bottlings are available on a first come, first served basis until sold out. They were selected by Jordan Paisley, the Distillery Manager at Lagavulin. The Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival is now in its 24th year and has covered all areas of jazz over the two decades.
Lagavulin is located Lagavulin Bay, a small bay dominated by the ruins of the 13th century Dunyvaig Castle on the southern coast of Islay. The name is the anglicised name of the village in which the distillery is located - Lag a'Mhuilin, which translates as 'mill by the bay' from the local Gaelic dialect. The distillery was founded in 1816 by John Johnston and is currently owned by Diageo. It has an annual production capacity of approximately three million litres.
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