Lagavulin, Dun Bheagan, The Ileach

the distillery Lagavulin 16, The Dun Bheagan 8YO Islay bottled by William Maxwell and Co., and The Ileach, no age statement, from The Highlands & Islands Scotch Whisky Co.
I have to agree with you, Johanna. The Dun Bheagan and The Ileach are nearly identical.
I won`t attempt extensive tasting notes on the Lagavulin; I`ll assume everyone reading this is familiar with it. It is hands-down the best malt of the three and an all-time favorite at our house.
Where the Dun Bheagan and Ileach are both a medium amber color, the Lagavulin has a sherry-red cast to it.
The Lagavulin has by far the most pungent nose of the three ? smoke, peat, creosote, leather, etc. The other two have the same elements, but they`re not nearly as aggressive and pungent. We found both of them less intense and less volatile than the Lagavulin, but very similar to each other. The Ileach was perhaps a little more powerful, but our bottle was freshly opened while the Dun Bheagan had been sitting half-full for a few months.
Blind, we could pick out the Lagavulin every time, but were very unsure whether we were nosing the Dun Bheagan or the Ileach. Same with the taste, for that matter. Again, I won`t go into detail. But at every point, we found the Dun Bheagan and the Ileach shared many of the elements of Lagavulin`s taste, though always in lesser measure. They were less intense, less complex, less challenging.
It might be unfair to compare either of them to the Lagavulin 16, which is a mighty malt. By itself, either is a very pleasant Islay treat and at their Canadian price points ? a little over half of the Lagavulin ? both are bargains.
I notice on re-reading this that I really haven`t differentiated between the Dun Bheagan and the Ileach, and I think I`ll just leave it at that. We debated at times whether one or the other had a slightly more powerful nose, or felt a little softer on the tongue, or a little more intense at mid-palate, etc., but there wasn`t much to choose between them.
We both emerged from the evening a little tipsy, and convinced that the Ileach, like the Dun Bheagan, must be a young Lagavulin. Neither of us has the tasting experience to gauge whether the Ileach is younger or older. But they`re both welcome at our house. cheers. bill

I have always felt the same about Finlaggan and The Ileach. I asked the owner of Highlands and Islands (Dr. Cook?) about this at a whiskyfest a few years ago. He wouldn`t confirm if they were the same whisky or not, nor would he answer my question about whether they were always made from the same whisky. That is the advantage of marketing an unnamed distillery, you can always play around with what`s in the bottle. There was a discussion about Finlaggan several years ago that centered on its variation from vatting to vatting and some felt that both Lagavulin and Caol Ila might be used from time to time.
I`m somewhat surprised by UDV announcing a Lagavulin shortage, seeing as the brokers and indies have access to all of this younger reputedly Lagavulin whisky floating around. In another thread, I mentioned the decreasing Lagavulin-ness of the White Horse blended, again due to greener pastures elsewhere in the marketplace.
Anyway, I digress. When I get home I`ll try a h-t-h-t-h with Finlaggan, The Ileach and Dun Bheagan. Should be interesting. The DB is the only one declaring an age statement, but it sounds like the volume-average age of the other two might be quite close.

I agree with you Bill. I too bought the Ileach and was surprised and confused by the similarity to my favourite since 8 years, the Lagavulin 16y.
In a head-to-head tasting I found the similarity between the Ileach and Lagavulin almost annoying, knowing that I could be fooled to believe that the Ileach was a Lagavulin, the whisky I could pin-point any time. In the head-to-head tasting the Lagavulin was however a lot richer.
The big difference came when I added a splash of water, the Lagavulin (my dear friend) blossomed like a flower in springtime but the Ileach was just diluted. No new tastes emerged in the latter when water was added.
Best! Fredrik M Sweden