Head to head · same region
Lagavulin 16 Year Old vs Laphroaig 10 Year Old
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Lagavulin 16 Year Old | Laphroaig 10 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Islay, Scotland |
| Age | 16 years | 10 years |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Refill American oak, refill European oak | Ex-bourbon barrel |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £85 | £45 |
| Per 10cl | £12 | £6.43 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £282 | £161 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Islay whiskies, from different distilleries.
Lagavulin 16 Year Old states 16 years, 6 more on paper.
Cask as each producer describes it: Lagavulin 16 Year Old in refill american oak and refill european oak, Laphroaig 10 Year Old in ex-bourbon barrel.
Neither states chill filtration.
Neither set of specifications is producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Lagavulin 16 Year Old is £40 dearer a bottle than Laphroaig 10 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £161 a litre of pure alcohol for Laphroaig 10 Year Old against £282.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Lagavulin 16 Year Old is 30th cheapest and Laphroaig 10 Year Old 21st cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Lagavulin 16 Year Old | Laphroaig 10 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 8 | 9 |
| Sweet | 4 | 2 |
| Fruity | 3 | 2 |
| Spicy | 4 | 4 |
| Woody | 6 | 4 |
| Sherried | 3 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 8 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sweet, 4 against 2.
Identical on spicy and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Lagavulin 16 Year Old
Sweet peat smoke wrapped in dried fruit and iodine. The softest of the big Islays.
Full record →Laphroaig 10 Year Old
Medicinal, seaweed and ash. The most divisive dram in mainstream whisky.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Lagavulin 16 Year Old for after dinner and gift for a peat drinker, Laphroaig 10 Year Old for testing whether you like peat at all.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Lagavulin 16 Year Old and Laphroaig 10 Year Old: malts.com, laphroaig.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.