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?

Ledaig & Wine: 2007 Pomerol, 2003 Amarone & 2008 Moscatel Reviews

Hi everyone,

Back to a favourite of mine…

Ledaig and wine should work, its worked before with the G&M Hermitage. It should bring out the meat and unami notes, melding with the smoke. For some reason though, it doesn’t always work and here’s two good examples with red wine and one with Moscatel because why the hell not.

More Ledaig on the way too…

Ledaig 2007 Chieftain’s Pomerol Finish 58%

Colour: Orangey-Redish

Body: Full

Nose: Don’t remember being impressed on first nosing but this is better. Ledaig through and through, meaty, pickled lime from the curry house, Ardbeggian notes, a lighter note if vanilla and soft floral oak.

Water: More funky, more of the floral oak and vanilla, some cheese? Moments of wet cardboard?

Taste: Soft arrival with lime juice and then big spices, cinnamon, clove, coriander, some sharp oak, then peppery meat, strong black tea, some vanilla. Lacking the oily mouthfeel of other Ledaigs.

Water: More intense arrival, much more of the wine, sugary with much less spice to it, more balanced and paced development but a sharp cherry note.

Finish: Long length. Powerful but not quite balanced with more curry paste, lime and spices.

June 2007-April 2018. Doesn’t quite hit the right notes. One of those whiskies that should pull all the right punches and doesn’t.

76/100

 

Ledaig 2003 Anam na h-Alba Amarone Finish 58.3%

Colour: Pinkish

Body: Full

Nose: Smoked fruit gums (if there were such a thing), earthy peat but a tad thin like the Chieftain’s Pomerol, small red berries, grapefruit and pomegranate.

Taste: Intense then soft, red berries, a little sour, orange, peat building up, earthy and mineral, granite, pomegranate, pickled lime.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Black pepper spice and raspberry fruit gums.

Bottled 2018 at 15yo, not sure how long the finishing was. This is very similar to the Cheiftain's Pomerol actually. A little thin for a Ledaig and not balanced with the wine like the G&M Hermitage. No meaty notes too!

76/100

 

Ledaig 2008 The Maltman 57.1%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: A natural, musky Ledaig with a layer of green grape, slightly floral, butter, white pepper, sooty smoke.

Taste: Great arrival, crystallised lemon peel, lovely oils, sweet grape then buttery Ledaig smoke, more minerals and peat build. A subtle floral note hiding away in there.

Finish: Medium length. The peat goes quite quick but leaves soft florals, soft oak and a little spice.

Bottled 2018 at 10yo. A 4 month Moscatel finish. Interesting although it hasn't had a massive effect, leaving the spirit quite natural.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #737-#739

Whisky Network Reviews #875-#877

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?

Glen Scotia 2008 Peated Port & Victoriana Batch 1 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Glen Scotia have been doing a good job recently. Particularly in terms of upping the quality and putting out good whiskies that people want to drink. I’ve been trying more of them recently, since, as we all know, when its good, it’s the equal of Springbank.

I’m a bit late with the festival release, but it was quite a large batch, so it may still be available.

The new Victoriana is brand new, as it’s the new version with a batch number and a different strength.

Glen Scotia 2008 Peated Port 57.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Malt, oily, light creamy smoke, ethereal florals, soot, orange and grape.

Taste: Full on, heather and orange, very spicy but good with lots of white pepper.

Finish: Medium/long length. Ginger then creamy vanilla.

I was expecting this to be more peaty or more porty or both, but actually it stays quite true to the distillery character. Great price on this one I should mention, and good availability too. It was under £50 for a limited edition, interesting, cask strength whisky.

76/100

 

Glen Scotia Victoriana Batch 1 54.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Soft and floral, malt and Campbeltown funk, much more balanced than the last batch I think and smells older, cherry, rose, geranium, ethereal but lots there to keep you hunting.

Taste: Soft and malty, lovely balance, cherry, orange, funk, chocolate and all balanced awesomely. Slightly floral and fizzy, nice clove spice, drier and drier as it develops.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Chocolate and malt, a little rubber here, funk and orange.

Finish lets it down a bit but a huge improvement on the last batch. Pour from a freshly opened bottle and it was getting a little harsher as it developed, so it could be one that doesn't oxidise very well.

77/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #704-#705

Whisky Network Reviews #841-#842

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?

Ledaig 2005 Hermitage G&M & 2008 Black Corbie Sherry Reviews

Hi everyone,

How many more Ledaig’s can we try?!

Loads thankfully. Because there’s always plenty of IB’s and even some new OB’s (the new 13 Amontillado looks great!). So here’s two newish ones I tasted in The Netherlands recently.

Ledaig 2005 Hermitage Gordon & MacPhail 45%

Colour: Redish

Body: Full

Nose: My kind of stuff! Dirty and amazing. Dirty red fruit and berries. Great sulphur and smoke.

Taste: Great. More of the same style as the nose. Soft arrival, builds with ashy and sulphury and sooty and smoky notes. Dirty red fruit.

Finish: Long length. More smoke and a little spice and oak.

A great example of dirty Ledaig. A well chosen one from G&M. Easily could go into too sulphury territory for most people. I asked for a bottle of this for Christmas and Santa delivered, so a re-review may be in order at some point.

84/100

 

Ledaig 2008 Black Corbie 59.9%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: A little sulphury, barnyard style, blood orange, grapefruit, light florals, sooty smoke, some vanilla. Very Signatory CS style, wouldn’t surprise me if this was their stock.

Taste: Intense, big smoky and sooty brute, mineral slate and sea salt, black pepper, red berries, slight sulphur.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Some soap, lavender, spice and dry oak.

9yo, from a Sherry cask. A new release from the whiskybase guys I think. At least, it was in their shop and on their stand at the Whiskybase Gathering. Anyway, another great Ledaig. Much more brutish and powerful than the G&M but not quite it’s equal.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #547-#548

Whisky Network Reviews #642-#643

Network Average: 74.6

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?

4x Benromach: Triple Distilled, Chateau Cissac, 2008 Single Cask & Peat Smoke

Hi everyone,

I’ve always been very impressed with the Benromach whiskies. They’ve all been hugely consistent in my book, scoring in the mid-high 70’s every time. Recently I’ve been placed at a few events next to them, so I’ve had a chance to try some of their new stuff and I continue to be impressed. Nothing has blown me away yet but the consistently good whisky is a big plus.

I’m also learning it can have some lovely Springbank type notes to it too.

I did also got a chance to try the 35 year old too, but didn’t have time to make notes. Great stuff, but please do it at cask strength you fools!

Benromach Triple Distilled 50%

Colour: Straw

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Light and very fresh, could be Glen Grant. Watermelon, melon, under ripe mango, kumquat?, cream.

Taste: Nice abv, light but lots there. That melon and under ripe mango thing from the nose, natural yoghurt, some young spice.

Finish: Medium length. More natural yoghurt and melon.

Distilled 2009, bottled 2017. This is a little to light for my taste, although the quality is here. Very Glen Grant-esque with the light and delicate flavours.

70/100

Benromach Chateau Cissac Finish 45%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Bloody good. Slightly dirty, soot and well integrated red fruit from the wine. Could be a Springbank. Candy floss brings freshness.

Taste: Lacking power to start then overly spicy and tannic from the French oak maybe? A little soot and red apple. A bit flat here though.

Finish: Medium length. Great. Lovely red apple and black pepper combo. A little like an older Talisker.

Distilled 2009, bottled 2017. Chateau Cissac is a Bordeaux I’m familiar with as I’ve got a couple of bottles. It’s in the Haut-Medoc and uses mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, giving you a bit more tannin normally. The tannin doesn’t really come through on this though, which is probably a good thing.

Lovely nose and finish, but the taste is completely different and not nearly as good, which is a shame. Still, one of my favourites of the range so far!

77/100

Benromach 2008 Single Cask for Itlay 61%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: The Springbank of Speyside! Chalky, sooty and austere. Some yellow apple, chimney soot, no youth or abv. White pepper.

Water: Remains austere. Nose doesn't change too much.

Taste: Soft, great arrival, sour lemon, lemon peel, chalky, citrus, a little orange, some soot, black and white pepper, a bit of grapefruit.

Water: Spicier but unbalances a bit.

Finish: Medium length. Some chalk and soot, then tingling. Spicier and longer with water.

Bottled 2016. A bit spicy with water, this is better neat. Really, this reminds me very much of the Springbank local barley. Which, of course, is a good thing. Great pick from the guys over in Itlay.

80/100

Benromach Peat Smoke 2017 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Fresh juicy pear, slight barnyard but not much overt peat. Subtle minerality and melon.

Taste: Soft, light, melon, then green apple and black pepper, light smoke and subtle mineral notes. Ginger.

Finish: Medium length. Suddenly very peaty with very salty lemon juice.

47ppm. Distilled 2008, bottled 2017. Similar style to the triple distilled. Quite light and delicate for how peaty it is meant to be. Bloody Ppm doesn’t tell you anything, eh?

72/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #514-#517

Whisky Network Reviews #606-#609

Network Average: 74.6

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?