Lagavulin 9 Game of Thrones
With the final episode of Game of Thrones just days away, it seems like a good time to review one of Diageo’s popular Game of Thrones whiskies, in this case the nine year old Lagavulin.
The Game of Thrones whisky series was a big hit this past winter, largely (really, entirely) due to what’s on the bottle rather than what’s in the bottle. Nobody, seriously nobody, was clamoring for a bottle of no age statement (NAS) Dalwhinnie at 43% ABV, but throw the Stark Family sigil on there and suddenly it’s a best seller.
So let’s get this out of the way right off—the Thrones series of whisky is entirely about marketing and finding new audiences. And frankly, I’m actually kind of OK with that for one reason—it’s serving as an introduction to single malt whisky for a lot of people who may otherwise not have tried it. And that’s great.
But… I still have a few things to complain about with these bottles. The reliance on marketing rather than quality whisky. The lack of age statements on most of the releases (although not on the one I’m reviewing). The heavy handed use of artificial coloring in most (maybe all) of the expressions. The mystifying selections of which distilleries were chosen to represent the great houses of Westeros. I’m going to try to avoid complaining about any of that for the most part, although I can’t help but touch on that last point a bit. So let’s get that out of the way.
What the hell was Diageo thinking when they chose a mild-mannered, 43% ABV, NAS single malt to represent House Stark? Seriously, if any house is drinking cask strength whisky on the regular, it’s the one that rules over the North. It really tells you all you need to know about these releases—it’s all about what Diageo wants to sell to people who are new or inexperienced single malt drinkers. Being that the Starks are the heroes of the show, the Stark bottle was always going to be popular, no matter what whisky was put in it. Personally I think the best introduction to new whisky drinkers is to give them something that’s actually good and has a bit of flavor, but whatever. Perhaps Diageo has some kind of data telling them that Dalwhinnie is a gateway into the wide world of whisky expenditure.
I did happen to come across a review on Total Wine’s website for the Dalwhinnie Stark Edition that I think is worth sharing here:
“I’m newish to scotch, but was blown away by this. It’s peaty, and smokey, with a honey finish, very nice surprise.”
Again, that’s talking about Dalwhinnie. If you’re an experienced whisky drinker, then you probably don’t consider Dalwhinnie to be particularly peaty or smokey. Probably not even a little bit. But hey, it’s good to get opinions from novices every once in a while, whether you’re talking about whisky or ruling over the Seven Kingdoms. It helps to keep some of us enthusiasts grounded and reminds us that we once probably thought similar things about equally less than peaty whiskies. And here it helps to illustrate my point—these releases are not meant for experienced whisky fans, they’re meant for Game of Thrones fans who are casual whisky drinkers or potentially new to whisky altogether (or collectors, of course).
Anyhow. I could complain about all of the distillery-to-house choices (except Talisker/Greyjoy, that one makes sense), but I’ll save you the geekery. If you’re a GoT fan and a single malt fan, you probably already have similar opinions. One more though, since it’s relevant to the whisky I’m reviewing—Lagavulin was chosen to represent the Lannisters, another mystifying choice in my opinion. The Lannisters are noted wine drinkers, so why not a wine cask-matured whisky rather than a smoky, Islay beast? And how in the world is the smokiest whisky of the bunch, again Lagavulin, not the choice for House Targaryen? You know, the house with fire-breathing dragons? One wonders if the marketers at Diageo have ever even watched the show. I’m half tempted to print out a copy of the Targaryen sigil and tape it over the Lannister sigil on my Lagavulin bottle.
OK, now that that’s off my chest…
The Game of Thrones series isn’t marketed at me. Yes, I do like the TV show. Yes, I’ve seen all the episodes. Yes, I enjoyed the hell out of watching Arya Stark… no spoilers? OK, no spoilers. You get the point. But I’m not such a big GoT fan that I’d buy any kind of show collectables, be it whisky or action figures or the like. I’m a fan, but a moderate fan. I’m a bigger fan of whisky. So if I’m going to geek out over a whisky, it’s going to be over an independent bottle of well-aged Ben Nevis or something similar. There’s something worth geeking out over.
OK, on to the review we go.
Lagavulin 9 Game of Thrones Review
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Islay
Age: 9 years
ABV: 46%
Nose
Young and earthy peat smoke. Green, grassy, and herbal. Rather malty. Pungent. A bit medicinal, perhaps more so than other Lagavulins, almost a cross between your typical Laphroaig and Lagavulin nose. Sea shells and brine. Over-ripened apricot. Green apples. Pears, like the first bite of a fresh Bartlett. Cardboard. Mint. A rather nice Islay nose.
Palate
Quite earthy. Campfire smokiness, with some pepper and cardboard. Somewhat light overall, by Islay standards anyway. Dark cocoa. Some fruitiness. Not super complex and a bit more mild mannered than you’d expect from a young Lagavulin. Bitter, artificial caramel. Over-brewed tea.
Enjoyable, but a bit light and leaves you wanting a bit more oomph. The artificial color isn’t helping. Thin mouthfeel, which is disappointing and a problem I find quite common from Islay’s south shore distilleries.
Finish
Medium in length at best. Not as long as you’d prefer, but what sticks around is mostly OK, if a bit young. Medicinal peat smoke. Earthy and oaky. A touch of stone fruits. Cinnamon. Ethanol. More over-brewed tea… earl grey specifically, the one thing that lingers a bit too long (again, artificial color).
Overall
Not necessarily a bad Lagavulin, but not a good one either. I prefer the 8 year old expression, which is about the same price or a little lower than this bottle. And I prefer it a lot. The 9 year shows its youth more than the 8 year does.
To me a good Lagavulin, or for that matter a good peated whisky, should have a certain level of excitement. This expression has no such excitement or engagement. It’s fine. I don’t mind drinking it. It’s just not all that interesting. Oh, and it’s loaded with artificial color—-just compare it to Laga 8 and the color difference is obvious. There’s so much e150 in the GoT edition, it comes through on the palate and especially the finish. It really knocks this dram down a notch.
The nose is the one element here that saves this whisky a bit, but overall it’s rather mediocre and therefore gets a mediocre score.
SCORE: 5/10
Final Thoughts
Nothing here is all that surprising. When a whisky’s main selling point is a TV show, I guess you can’t really expect the whisky itself to be all that great. Good whisky doesn’t need a Game of Thrones tie in to sell.
That said, if this bottle is your first sip of an Islay whisky, well it’s not the worst place to start. And maybe by the time the third or fourth Game of Thrones spin-off has hit the airwaves, you’ll find yourself with a collection of whisky bottles so large that it required funding from the Iron Bank of Braavos. Just make sure they get their due.
Buying Advice: If you care about the whisky and not the marketing (or collecting), buy a bottle of Lagavulin 8 and skip the Game of Thrones edition.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
