Nose: Sweet wine notes and peat, wet hay.

Palate:  Sweet, peaty and malty.

Finish:  Mostly malty with peat in the background.

Surprisingly mild and not a whole lot going on.  I expected a lot more.

N: Metallic tinge, citrus zest, candle wax, minerals, white peppers. The peat is pretty clean here. Some tangy and sweet fruit (kiwi and nectarine).

P: Oily, medicinal, waxy, and toasted bread. Lightly floral and campfire-y.

F: Warm spiced peaty finish that sticks.

Charbay comes to mind as I nose this, as it has a slight hoppy character. I think this may be the best part of this vintage. Tastes a bit hot for me, but it's totally doable without water. I went ahead and added water anyway, just to see and that turned out to be the proper line of action - really opens things up. It's surprisingly light, more so than either 21s or the 25. 

All that I kept thinking was, gosh, I really expected more from Lag 30. It was tasty nonetheless. B+/A-

N: Light hint of cinnamon, gentle peat. Sweet with a little light mint and menthol. 

P: Malty with a surprising hint of zippy heat. A little white pepper and some stone fruit - peaches and nectarines.

F: Plenty of heat at first, malty, white pepper, and gentle heat.

Quite nice. Beautiful nose. And yet, it's absolutely thrashed by the younger Lagavulins. This bottle kept getting handed around - "Does anyone want some of the 30 year old?" - and polite declines were the norm. It's a sign of how spoiled we can be in our tastings, but it's also a clear indicator of how it doesn't stack up against the 21s or even the 25.