Lagavulin launches Sweet Peat whisky
Diageo-owned Lagavulin has added a layer of sweetness to its trademark smoky profile in its latest whisky release: Sweet Peat.
The last time the Islay brand updated its permanent range was nine years ago with the Lagavulin 8 Year Old.
Now also a part of the core range, Sweet Peat’s arrival marks a change to the brand’s usual formula, which Jesse Damashek, senior vice-president of whiskey at Diageo, explained: “Pronounced smoke is a defining element of Islay Scotch, albeit one that can feel polarising to some drinkers.
“Sweet Peat presents peat in a way that tastes more approachable, while still delivering the depth and complexity long associated with Lagavulin.”
The whisky was aged in first-fill American oak ex-Bourbon casks for 11 years, which is said to have brought a layer of sweetness – through notes of toffee apple and vanilla – to the brand’s classic smoke-heavy flavour.
To keep peat at the heart of maturation, Laguvalin’s production maintains slow and traditional methods using heavily peated malt and local Islay water, with the spirit fermented in wooden washbacks and distilled through the distillery’s four pear-shaped copper pot stills.
Diageo master blender Dr Stuart Morrison said: “Sweet Peat reflects careful cask selection and deliberate pacing. On the palate, it opens with a gentle sweetness and salinity before bonfire smoke and oak spice come into focus.
“Notes of honeyed malt and toffee apple build through the mid-palate, finishing long with lingering peat smoke, dark chocolate, and soft vanilla.”
Diageo noted Sweet Peat ‘aligns naturally with the ways whisky is enjoyed today’, citing a serving at a ’boutique hotel bar’ and ‘unhurried moments at home’ as consumption occasions.
The company added that the more rounded profile ‘offers those curious about Scotch and longtime followers a new way to explore the depth and complexities that lie beyond’ the Islay brand’s signature smoke.
The whisky can be enjoyed over ice or neat, but it’s also recommended in cocktails. Diageo listed two signature serves for the expression: the Smoky Sweet Old Fashioned and the Sweet Peat Tea, which is inspired by the Penicillin.
The cocktails are said to enhance the whisky’s softer edges and subtle sweetness.
Bottled at 43% ABV, Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat is available at select US retailers for US$69.99.
Last year, another of Diageo’s whisky brands, Buchanan’s, updated its core range with an evolved flavour profile to attract new drinkers in Green Seal.
Lagavulin, meanwhile, launched a campaign that intended to take drinkers ‘beyond the smoke’.
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