Lagg Kilmory Review

Lagg Kilmory review. This is the peated one from the south of Arran, the bottle that tells you Arran has a second personality and that it is not the lemony, cheerful one from Lochranza. It is about £49, it is 46%, and it is a young, smoky, slightly raw whisky with a lot of enthusiasm and not yet much patience.

I like the intent more than the polish. If you want peat and you do not want to spend Islay money, it is a reasonable place to start.

What is Lagg Kilmory?

Lagg is Arran’s second distillery, in the south of the island near Kilmory, and it makes a heavily peated malt in the same island company as the better-known Lochranza site. The Lagg distillery page has the story and the full range.

Kilmory is the core bottle: ex-bourbon wood, 46%, non-chill-filtered, and no age statement. It is young, because the distillery is young, and that matters. The spirit has not had decades to mellow, so you are tasting the peat and the new oak fairly directly.

It is the obvious first stop, with the sherried Corriecravie and the small-batch releases sitting further up the price ladder.

The name comes from the village where the distillery sits, which is the sort of detail I enjoy because it keeps the label honest. Nothing about the packaging pretends this is an ancient family recipe. It is a new distillery making a smoky malt on a famous island, and it says so.

Sweet smoke, lemon and a bit of wood

Bonfire on a damp beach, with lemon on the side and a faint scent of new timber.

Be patient with it. The first sniff is mostly smoke and lemon, and the sweeter barley and vanilla notes come out when the glass has had a few minutes and a drop of water.

The nose is smoky and sweet, with barley, vanilla, lemon zest and a clean, ashy peat. There is a hint of seaweed and a touch of green apple, and a hot, young edge underneath. It smells lively and slightly raw.

The palate is medium-bodied and a little oily. Smoke leads, with lemon, honey and vanilla, then pepper and a dry, ashy warmth. The peat is more assertive than refined, and at 46% it has plenty of grip.

The finish is medium to long, with smoke, pepper and a sweet, sooty tail. The peat stays longest, and it leaves your mouth tasting of a campfire.

How I would drink it

Neat, with a few drops of water to calm the youthful edge. It makes a decent smoky highball with soda and a slice of lemon, and I would try it in a Penicillin-style cocktail, where the smoke is an asset. I would not use ice in a neat glass. Water and ice explains why.

It suits a person who likes peat and wants to try something new, and it is better with food than I expected. Smoked fish and strong cheese both work.

Is it worth £49?

About £49 for 70 cl at 46%. That is fair for a young peated malt, though not a bargain. Ardbeg 10 scores 72 at about £45 and is the benchmark, and Port Charlotte 10 scores 75 at about £60 with more weight and depth.

The Kilmory scores 70 on my page. It is a good young peated whisky, and the Ardbeg is slightly better and slightly cheaper. Buy the Kilmory if you want to support the new distillery and enjoy the smoke. Buy the Ardbeg if you want the safe answer.

One more point on value: it is a good deal cheaper than most heavily peated Islay malts with an age statement, and that is the real argument in its favour. You are paying for a young whisky, and the price reflects that fairly. The wood will have done more work in a few years, and I expect the later bottlings to be better.

Arran with the other face on

Arran’s reputation rests on the bright, fruity Lochranza malt, and Lagg is a deliberate change of direction. It is a reminder that a young distillery has to decide what it wants to be, and Lagg has decided to be smoky.

That is a brave bet, because Islay owns the territory and has done for centuries. What Lagg offers is a different kind of peat: sweeter, cleaner and a little more coastal. I am curious to see what it tastes like in ten years.

If you want a quick experiment, pour the Kilmory next to the Arran 10 and see how two whiskies from the same island and the same company can taste like they were made on different planets. It is a cheap and educational evening.

Alternatives to Lagg Kilmory

If you like the idea of a smoky, young island malt, these four are worth a look:

Lagg Kilmory review verdict

Lagg Kilmory is a lively, smoky, slightly raw young malt at 46% and a fair price. It has character and not yet much finish, and I enjoy it for what it is.

I would buy it for a peat fix and for curiosity, and I would buy the Ardbeg 10 first if I wanted the safe answer. It is a promising start.

Caskable score: 70 out of 100.