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Imagine a peat bonfire on an Islay beach, and someone handing you a slice of dark, sticky fruitcake. That’s Lagavulin Distillers Edition. It takes Lagavulin’s famously rich, smoky spirit and gives it a second maturation in casks seasoned with Pedro Ximénez, the sweetest of all sherries. The result is deep, dark and indulgent: raisins and dates, dark chocolate and espresso, all layered over powerful peat smoke and a lick of sea salt.
Released in limited quantities each year, it is one of the most admired peated whiskies in the world and a perfect after-dinner dram.
The whisky first matures in refill American and European oak casks. These casks let Lagavulin’s spirit, full-bodied, oily and deeply peated, take centre stage.
Next, it is moved into casks seasoned with Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry, a thick, sweet dessert wine from southern Spain made from sun-dried grapes. The finishing casks are re-charred American oak, which adds toasty depth alongside the sherry. This second maturation layers in raisins, figs, dates and dark chocolate, rounding the smoke with deep sweetness.
The Distillers Edition range has been released every year since 1997 in limited quantities. Each distillery in the range uses a different finishing cask, and for Lagavulin it is always Pedro Ximénez.
Lagavulin’s PX finish is the richest and darkest in the range. Its sister editions use very different casks: Talisker is finished in Amoroso sherry, Caol Ila in Moscatel wine, Cragganmore in port, Oban in Montilla Fino and Dalwhinnie in Oloroso sherry. If you enjoy comparing how one cask changes a whisky, collecting the Distillers Editions is a fascinating way to do it.
Peat smoke and vanilla, with raisin sweetness, roasted malt, dark oak and a breath of sea spray.
Full-bodied and oily. Rich, raisin-sweet smoke builds into sea salt, roasted malt, vanilla and a hint of espresso coffee.
Very long, with dried fruit, deep peat smoke and warming oak spice.
Where many peated whiskies are sharp and medicinal, this one is rich, dark and luxurious. It’s a great whisky to savour slowly at the end of an evening.
This is the ideal after-dinner whisky. Pour a measure into a nosing glass and take your time with it.
A small splash of water opens up the dried fruit and lets the sherry sweetness and smoke separate a little.
Try it with dark chocolate, sticky toffee pudding, Christmas pudding, blue cheese such as Stilton, or a plate of smoked meats.
Lagavulin comes from the Gaelic Lag a’ Mhuilinn, meaning “hollow of the mill”. The distillery sits on Islay’s south coast, on a small bay watched over by the ruins of Dunyvaig Castle, once a stronghold of the Lords of the Isles.
Illicit distilling was recorded on the site as early as 1742, but Lagavulin officially dates from 1816, when John Johnston and Archibald Campbell Brooks built distilleries here.
In the late 1800s, Peter Mackie took charge of the family firm that ran Lagavulin, and he used its whisky in his famous White Horse blend. White Horse won many awards and received a Royal Warrant from King Edward VII in 1908.
Lagavulin is known for its slow distillation in pear-shaped pot stills. Taking time over the spirit helps build the rich, oily body that makes Lagavulin so distinctive. Today the distillery is owned by Diageo.
Lagavulin has a cult following far beyond whisky circles. It was famously the favourite drink of Ron Swanson in the TV comedy Parks and Recreation, and it has also appeared in The West Wing and the film Glass Onion.
If you love the mix of peat smoke and sherry sweetness here, these single malts take a similar approach:
Want to read more? Explore another peated Islay malt in our Ardbeg Vintage Y2K guide, see our 10 best single malt Scotch whiskies to buy in 2026, or browse every Islay single malt in our shop.
Say it “lag-a-VOO-lin”, with the stress on “VOO”.
Pedro Ximénez (often shortened to PX) is a grape variety used to make a very sweet, dark sherry in southern Spain. Casks seasoned with it give whisky rich raisin, fig and toffee flavours.
Yes. It is a heavily peated Islay whisky, but the PX sherry finish makes the smoke richer and sweeter than in many other peated malts.
Lagavulin 16 is the distillery’s classic bottling. The Distillers Edition adds a second maturation in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, which makes it sweeter, darker and more dessert-like.
Yes. It is released once a year in limited quantities.
Lagavulin is owned by Diageo, the drinks group behind Johnnie Walker.
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