Ledaigathon: 1994 G&M, 20 Cadenhead's, SMWS 42.22 & 42.21, 2008 Archives Reviews

Hi everyone,

A while back, um, at the beginning of May, I was in Canada for work and was able to meet up with the wonderful people of the Toronto whisky society. What follows are reviews that are their fault.

Knowing that I loved Ledaig, they’d secured as many as they could and greeting me on the table were a row of them. Of course, I felt obliged to review them (Its a hard life sometimes), although I didn’t get to them all because I wanted to try other stuff too.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing night!

Ledaig 1994 Gordon & MacPhail 53.9%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Ah yes, clearly not Ledaig just as we expected after the other 1994 G&M. Clean with ozone, salt, green apple and a little cheese, some seaweed, light on the complexity.

Taste: Soft then spicy, ginger and black pepper, salt coming in, dried seaweed, losing power into the finish.

Finish: Short length. Lacking power here, very soft salt, ill fitting dry oak. Doesn't really work.

Bottled 2012. Mislabelled Tobermory again. The second time I've had this from G&M which makes me distrust all early 90's Ledaig.

71/100

 

Ledaig 1997 Cadenhead's 52.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Lovely complexity of lemon, aged smoke, epically oily, buttery but also salt crusted sailing ropes, leather and a little green grape.

Taste: So so oily, salt and smoke building up, spicy black pepper, white pepper, great leather and chocolate coming in.

Finish: Long length. Power, white pepper, mineral smoke, a white wine thing going on which is cool.

Gold label, 20yo. Very similar to the 19yo that I have a bottle of, but I prefer that one by a point I think.

85/100

 

Ledaig 2006 42.22 SMWS 59.3%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Very clean nose, a little abv, pure salt and white pepper, lemon juice, not a huge amount there but very pure and clean.

Taste: Soft, then a great balance of pure salt and white pepper, lemon juice and stem ginger. Again, compelxity isn't massive but the balance and purity is super impressive.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Salty and spicy, stem ginger and white pepper.

9yo.

78/100

 

Ledaig 2006 42.21 SMWS 59.4%

Colour: Light Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Even cleaner and lighter... As in water. A tiny bit of green apple, a tiny bit of salt, Tequila.

Taste: Soft arrival, great saltiness, great balance again with the smoke, minerality, raw ginger and white pepper.

Finish: Medium length. Clean again, a little ginger and white pepper left.

I prefer the nose on this actually than the 42.22, but the taste isn't as good.

77/100

 

Ledaig 2008 Archives 60.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Dirty AF, burnt bacon, creamy vanilla, not a huge amount of smoke but a great balance, white german sausage, smoked sausage. Lots of sausage. Very savoury nose.

Taste: Clean arrival, great balance, salty, the Sherry comes through with dirty raisin, unami, bacon, so oily, mouthfeel for days.

Finish: Medium length. Creamy, sweet raisin and more overt peat.

Bottled 2016 I think, from a Sherry cask. Fan-fucking-tastic young Ledaig. Love it. Should have bought one when I had the chance.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #779-#783

Whisky Network Reviews #924-#928

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

3x older Ledaig's: 1993, 1994 & 1997 Reviews

Hi everyone,

The heavily peated Ledaig wasn’t officially re-produced until 1996, meaning that there isn’t a huge amount of the older stuff out there.

What there is is sometimes mislabelled Tobermory, and at other times, only lightly peated. Here’s a few today that I’ve tasted recently.

Ledaig 1993 Wilson & Morgan 51%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: The smoke has had time to oxidise giving it more fruit- More like a Talisker really, red apple, black pepper, sea salt, some orange, smoke backing it all, nicely balanced. More funky with time, some cheddar cheese, something slightly savoury.

Taste: Sharp and sour start, acidic red apple and spiky oak, green and black peppercorns, again quite Talisker-like, quite spicy, maritime smoke and sea salt and lemon.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Power gone completely, a little red apple, dry oak and spice left. Bit of a disappointing finish.

Bottled 2018 at 25yo. A Ledaig in my year! Could easily be an old Talisker. Great nose but it gets more and more tired as the taste goes on.

74/100

 

Ledaig 1994 Gordon & Macphail 47.1%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Lemon, grapefruit and sea salt, ozone, a little light cherry and some light cheese lurking in the background, rock pools and sea wind, gives a sense of open space.

Taste: A little weak to start, salt and lemon, grapefruit and cherry, then it gets going with dirty soot and orange, very oily, funk-mozzarella?, green olives and brine.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Fades quite quickly with some salted chocolate, black pepper and green olives.

Bottled 2017 as an exclusive for Germany. Unpeated Ledaig the rep told me... Soooo NOT Ledaig then?

75/100

Ledaig 1997 Cadenhead's 53.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Salinity at first nosing. Sea salt, coastal with a far off beach bonfire, oysters, grilled prawns and green olive. Also leather and classy oak, chocolate powder. A little more chocolatey over time with milk chocolate and praline. Very nice and really interesting nose. Not full of the usual Ledaig powerful smoke, but more restrained.

Water: Fresher, more coastal, oily and a little fresh rubber. Pencil eraser. Not such a fan of this style, preferred it neat.

Taste: Citrus arrival, lemon and then a wonderful transition into a more active development. More of that citrus, lemon, orange and lime juice all mixed together, some smoke but more complex coastal flavours coming through. A little green olive, sea salt, salt rimmed margarita. Oily.

Water: Softer and less citric, less acidity, builds slowly with some lemon, earthy notes, some vanilla, leather, then more and more salty with that salt rimmed margarita.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Oily citrus juice continues then more gristy malt and leathery smoke.

Aged 19 years, from a Bourbon hogshead. Better neat IMO. So glad I bought a bottle of this when I spied it in the Netherlands.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #740-#742

Whisky Network Reviews #878-#880

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Tobermory 1994 The Single Cask Review

Hi everyone,

I’ve got another nicely Sherried single cask, cask strength, independent bottling here from one of favourite distilleries, so we can’t go far wrong I don’t think.

The Single Cask seem to have grown in the last year, expanding the whiskies that they do as well as building a new bar in Scotland. Just looking at their website at the moment, they’ve got loads of different bottling, many more than I thought and the quality is well regarded.

 

Tobermory 1994 The Single Cask 56.8%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Cheese, very funky, over-ripe peach and orange, Parma ham, very dry oak, green tomato then more fig and PX Sherry after a bit.

Water: More golden raisin, malt, Macallan. Its straighter and less feinty now.

Taste: Intense! Sweet, raisin, very thick, PX Sherry, fig, plum, stewed fruit, orange, then heather and malt, dark chocolate and coffee beans. Oily.

Water: Less Sherry, more oak and more spicy. Less balanced.

Finish: Medium length. Oily into the finish, golden raisin, malt, Macallan-like here.

2nd fill PX Sherry finish I believe. Wonderful but best kept neat. This does show that unpeated Ledaig can work well with its feinty flavours, a well done one by The Single Cask.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #660

Whisky Network Review #793

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

3x Old Bowmore Reviews: 1994, 1991 & 1989 [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got some older Bowmore’s.

Bowmore is a variable distillery from the indie’s. The 1980’s being the classic example, but the style can change hugely. This trio exemplify this pretty perfectly.

I tried the 1991 at Whisky Live Paris recently, although I can’t remember the name of the bottler. The other two were from Whisky Exchange Show in London.

Bowmore 1991 Butterfly Label 48.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Does Bowmore get MORE peaty as it ages?! Very peaty and mineral, sooty chimney, coal, tar, none of the floral notes I was expecting.

Taste: Sweet start, vanilla, honey, then very peaty for old Bowmore, layers of minerality. Sooty with a little orange.

Finish: Long length. Dry, sooty, some oak. A little tropical fruit right at the end. Mango.

25yo, bottled 2017. An old peaty one but not hugely complex. Seems like the peat is covering up the flavours beneath.

79/100

 

Bowmore 1989 'BBQ Mango Salsa' 46%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Slightly rubbery maltiness, cigarette ash, lots of lemon sponge cake.

Taste: Sweet, malt, orange, spicy ginger, Bowmore's malty smoke, lemon then sooty.

Finish: Long length. Smoke kicks up a notch with more soot and slight florals.

Think this was 26 years old. Not nearly as complex or balanced the 87 Wemyss I had, that you might remember got 92.

78/100

 

Bowmore 1994 Single malts of Scotland 52.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: An oily, buttery SMWS style, meaty for a Bowmore, also slightly tropical, BBQ and mango. Lovely nose. Slightly Ardbeggian.

Taste: Sweet, tropical, meaty, BBQ ham, pineapple, slightly chalky. A bit of chilli too.

Finish: Medium length. A little spice, oak and chilli.

A really good Bowmore, quite a different style to usual.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #465-#467

Whisky Network Reviews #530-#532

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Mortlach 1994 G&M Sherry Review [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Older Sherried Mortlach. That's the dream my friends. Some the stuff is legendary and it's got a reputation for these complex meaty flavours that work so well.

So when I saw Gordon & MacPhail had one, I made a beeline for their stand.

Prices are high though and this one would set you back around £200ish. Not as ridiculous as the officials though remember.

 

Mortlach 1994 G&M Cask Strength 54.2%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: A little medicinal strangely, cough sweets, floral geranium, a little closed though. Opens up after a bit with cherry lip gloss.

Taste: Big and rolling. Quiet at first then building up with cherry, Sherry then amazing medicinal and floral notes. Cherry chocolate.

Finish: Long length. Really good. Woody, chocolatey, dark chocoalte.

Single Sherry butt. A shame that the nose didn't really open up. Perhaps it needed a little water but I was cautious at this point because a drop of water had really dumbed down a previous whisky.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #458

Whisky Network Review #522

Network Average: 74.2

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

[Scotland Stag] Glendron-aching for more: Tour

Hi everyone,

After Glenfiddich we popped over to Speyside Cooperage for a quick tour and some food. Then it was time to take Tom over to Glendronach, as he’s a huge fan of Sherried whiskies. I’d been on my last trip to Speyside but had only done the basic tour. So this time we did the Discovery tour with some tasters of stuff I hadn’t tried yet.

Glendronach is a lovely traditional distillery, set well away from the main Speyside trail in some lovely rolling hills with swaying barley fields. You are shown the old maltings that were active until 1996, then the cast iron mash tun, wooden washbacks, etc. Since we were there on Friday afternoon, the distillery had shut down for the weekend and everything was being polished, which was actually a nice change to the heat and shouting (over the noise) tour guides of many other places.

Speyside Cooperage

It’s interesting to find out how much distilleries are running too, Glendronach, as well as many other places, run 24 hours a day over 5 days, while some distilleries are 24/7 if demand is high. I also asked whether Brown Forman (who bought the distillery last year) had made any changes and the guide said that there had been no changes to the production as of yet.

All the stills at Glendronach were direct fired until 1996 too, but the distillery was closed from then till 2002. This means, if you do the maths, that recent batches of the 18yo will be 20 years old. What I don’t like about the Glendronach tour though, is that you don’t get shown any of the warehouses, just a window into one. This is a real shame as that’s always my favourite part of a tour.

The tasting for our tour was meant to be the Cask Strength, 21 year old and the Manager’s Cask (a bottle your own). Unfortunately, it had been Spirit of Speyside festival earlier in the month and a few distilleries were out of their bottle your own’s. So we had a 1994 Distillery Exclusive Single Cask instead. All of the them were really good, we were Mort-lapping it up…

 

Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 6 56.1%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Alcohol and Sherry fruit, herbal, fresh mint sprig, dunnage oak. Fresher with water with some nice lime.

Taste: Amazing fresh lime on arrival, lovely Sherry and chocolate powder, then some malty and spicy notes. Raisin, leather and a little oak.

Finish: Long length. More malt now, some leather and chocolatey oak.

A lovely whisky, really surprised by the freshness but the nose was a bit closed.

78/100

I reviewed the 21yo fairly recently and it was just as great as I remember, maybe it deserves an upgrade to 84/100 but my review is here.

Glendronach 1994 Single Cask Distillery Exclusive 54.1%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: A mix of fresh and old, ethereal and minty, sweet Sherry, intense grape. It’s quite closed though, with water that dunnage note comes out.

Taste: Soft, perfect grape, really velvety, looooooooong development, builds to a spicy and malty ending.

Finish: Long length. Black pepper, malt, then chocolate powder.

An immaculate arrival, but that nose is closed again. Bottled 2015 from PX Cask 1189.

81/100

Glendronach 18 46%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Lovely, classic Glendronach, lovely chocolatey malt, nutty, fruity and sugary with brown sugar.

Taste: Rich, nutty first, then malty with a lovely balance. Spiciness building with clove and pepper.

Finish: Long length. Spicy and fruity.

u/generalbirdy managed to blag a sample of this, thanks bro (He bought one too). Very very good, and a great bargain at the moment as it’s over 20 years old. It was great to compare this directly with the 21yo too, and although I still prefer the 21, it was a close call.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch reviews #383-#385

Whisky Network reviews #429-#431

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?