Nick Offerman’s 4th Collaboration With Lagavulin Brings the Peat With the Sweet

When Nick Offerman talks whisky, people pull up a glass. Since 2014, the Parks and Recreation star has collaborated with Lagavulin — not coincidentally, the favorite scotch of his sardonic TV alter ego Ron Swanson — on a series of limited-edition expressions. 

The connection to Lagavulin is a sentimental one: It was Offerman’s first experience with scotch. A friend with “discerning taste” had introduced him to the classic Islay whisky at the Chicago Film Festival nearly 25 years ago. “I had never had a fine whiskey, with all due respect to the folks at Jameson,” says Offerman. “So my first glass of scotch was a Lagavulin. I said, holy cow! It knocked my socks off — this is what all the fuss is about. I finally get it.”

“And unbeknownst to me, he completely ruined me,” continues Offerman. “I mean, I enjoy damn near any beverage. But I’ve never had a scotch that remotely pleased me like the flavor profile of Lagavulin.”

Offerman wasn’t just looking for a product placement when Lagavulin became Swanson’s drink of choice on Parks and Rec. Series creator Mike Schur is also a big fan of the peated whisky. 

“Lagavulin was my scotch of choice, so there wasn't a close second,” says the 53-year-old Offerman, who recently won an Emmy for his unforgettable performance on HBO’s The Last of Us. “When Parks and Recreation started, Mike said it was also his favorite scotch. And so it became Ron Swanson’s scotch. And that’s where my relationship began with the Lagavulin distillery.”

During the NBC sitcom’s run, which lasted from 2009–2015, Offerman began appearing in Lagavulin’s My Tales of Whisky videos, and a partnership was born. In 2019, Lagavulin released the first Offerman Edition, a bottling aged 11 years that had a peat flavor even more pronounced than the brand’s flagship 16-year-old whisky. Since then, he has collaborated on a Guinness-finished 11-year-old expression, which was released in 2021 and named Whisky of the Year by Whisky Advocate, and a 92-proof Charred Oak Cask expression, making use of heavily charred American and European oak casks, and meant to be paired with steak — medium rare, the way God intended.

His latest collaboration, the Lagavulin Offerman Edition Caribbean Rum Cask Finish, is out starting today, and is once again an 11-year-old whisky aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, before being finished in rum casks over the course of eight months. In 2022, Offerman had been in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic shooting the eight-episode Peacock series The Resort when the inspiration hit.

“I was, you know, figuratively marinating in rum drinks, especially around Old San Juan, which I couldn’t recommend more highly to travelers. It’s pretty incredible,” says Offerman. “And then I would turn to people, [and] I would say, ‘Hang on though, but please try some Lagavulin.’ It was actually like [the] chocolate-getting stuck-in-somebody’s-peanut-butter commercial. We’re in the middle of this conversation and I said, ‘What can we do with rum casks?’ I’m zeroing in on that. And [Lagavulin master blender] Stuart Morrison said, ‘Well, let me let me toss that idea around.’”

The process of developing the fourth iteration of the Offerman Edition began, with Morrison, who has been with Diageo as a whisky specialist and master blender for more than a decade, narrowing down their experiments to three variations. These were then tasted twice over the course of several months, but it was the expression aged six months in rum barrels that showed the most promise. 

“We both said, ‘Well, this is exquisite, the direction that it’s going in. Let’s accumulate another couple of months of this flavor,’” says Offerman. “It was already having like the toffee and the lemon meringue. And so, sure enough, by giving it a couple more months, we just tweaked those up another notch.” 

“You know, I'm not a sophisticated person, my wife [Will & Grace star Megan Mullally] will be quick to tell you,” adds Offerman. “That’s why I’m so grateful to be involved in these conversations.”

Despite being so indelibly associated with the Scotch whisky industry, and releasing multiple expressions in collaboration with one of the category’s most storied distilleries, Offerman remains humble about his own journey with the spirit.

“I come from a hardworking Midwestern family, so you know the only thing I’ll ever accept as being extraordinary in, is perhaps my ignorance… or my ability to carry luggage,” says Offerman, who also happens to be a fine woodworker, operating the Los Angeles-based Offerman Wood Shop. “I love going to tastings and [enjoy] meals that have pairings of any sort of beverage, and I love to hear about them. I’ll go full nerd. Like, I love to twirl my wine in the glass and see the legs and aerate it. I love all of that stuff. I find it really enjoyable, but I rely on more educated palates to help steer me along.”

The eight-month rum cask sample — which eventually became Offerman’s new release — has several dessert-like notes, like burnt Basque cheesecake and charred lemon meringue, as well as sweet-and-saline tones with a blast of campfire.

As for how it may be best enjoyed, Offerman offers a simple recommendation:  “I would pair it with a slice of lemon meringue, sit on the poop deck of a three-masted square-rigged sailing vessel of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, and have a piece of pie.

“Talking about this, I think I need to open a maritime amusement park with these experiences,” he adds.