Lagavulin

Lagavulin sits in a small bay guarded by the ruins of Dunyvaig Castle, and its whisky moves at the pace of the place: unusually slow distillation and long ageing give a malt of extraordinary depth. The 16-year-old is many drinkers' definition of great Islay whisky — thick peat smoke wrapped around sherry sweetness, seaweed and lapsang tea. Regal, unhurried and endlessly imitated, never matched.