The best nose so far, seaweed, salt, cherry. What a comfort whisky for that miserable cold day, gently lingering with a gentle drying but the flavours keep coming back. Fantastic!

Sukhinder Singh 2011, Whisky Magazine, Issue 95, p.103

Rich, chewy, slightly oily texture. Deep peat, thicks smoke, iodine, brine, charcoal, seaweed, tea (Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong), and the aromas of a summer barbeque. Vanilla and light caramel soften the intensity, while subtle citrus fruit teases. Powerful, yet polished and seamless. After all these years, this whisky is still one of the finest standard-issue peaty, smoky whiskies!

John Hansell, 2011, The Whisky Advocate Fall 2011, p.96

The smoke hides behind dried oak tree bark and sultanas and the palate with a flavour of cherry drop sweets and black tea.

Joel Harrison 2012, Whisky Magazine, Issue 103, p.103

A true classic in every sense that offers breathtaking depth.

Jim Murray 1999, Whisky Magazine, Issue 6

Lagavulin is a classic example of how smoke isn’t a blunt instrument that covers everything in a fog, but an element that works with all the flavors produced in distillation and maturation. Lagavulin isn’t ‘smoky,’ its peat moves into a weird territory of Lapsang Souchong tea and pipe tobacco, fishboxes and kippers. It smells of laurel and light cereal, but is always sweet. The palate shows more creosote, with hints of kelp and a little touch of iodine. Complex.

Dave Broom, 2012, The Whisky Advocate Summer 2012

A monster truck nose with rich smoke, lychee and unripe pear, with prickly smoke and banana skin notes on the palate, and a superb long dark chocolate and smoky finish.

Dominic Roskrow, Malt Whisky Yearbook 2015, p.149