Ledaig 42 Dùsgadh Review

Hi everyone,

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Lot been going on in my life and just have not found the motivation to write anything much about whisky.

However, I’m going to try and make more of concerted effort to keep posting reviews and helpful articles because there’s still stuff to taste and talk about and, hell, I enjoy it.

Many, many thanks go to u/UncleBaldric for the sample of this elusive dram!

 

So, this could be considered something of a white whale for me. I love Ledaig, it’s no secret, and yet I have never even seen a bottle of this open. Perhaps that’s got something to do with the fact that it’s the oldest and most expensive Ledaig ever bottled.

I had a very wonderful thing to celebrate in August last year, the birth of my first child. This was the dram I saved as something truly special to taste at the time.

In a world that seems increasingly confusing and chaotic, it is a comfort to take the time to sit with such a whisky. To sit, to be still, and, in a way, to fall into the glass…

 

Ledaig 42 Dùsgadh 46.7%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: There’s an entire world in here. Deep, rich and complex. The peat is well intact with medicinal notes of Calpol, tintures of old oils and medicinal things that have long past their use by date, old petrol soaked rags, kerosene, very old Jamacian rum, sea water, samphire, bandages, old sticking plasters. The Sherry comes in with a wave of dark fruit, raisin and figs, Christmas pudding, cinnamon, saffron, toffee apple and a touch of wild strawberry, lavender, some wood smoke. Developing into the most amazing and exotic dark chocolate money can buy. Oh, and add exotic black coffee too. There's so many layers to this and its constantly evolving and changing in wonderful ways. Beautiful, layered nose.

Taste: Soft and sweet arrival, lacking a touch of power to begin with before the peat comes in, very softly with coal dust, burnt paper, ash, some soft florals, a touch of lavender. Of course there's some oak but it's restrained for 42yo, some rich spices with saffron. Really chewy mouthfeel. Though the nose felt like it was more about the smoke, this is more about the Sherry I would say. Tobacco and dark chocolate going into the finish.

Finish: Long/Very Long length. More of the smoke here, plenty of tobacco, raisin, coals, even some blackberry actually. Then more drying oak and some very soft spice. Really long but very soft finish.

Distilled 1972, Gonzales Byass Oloroso Sherry finish from 2001 and bottled 2014. Dùsgadh means Awakening. Really very special stuff. I could nose this for hours! Having said that, this suffers from a very minor floral/soapy note that I've found in 1972 Tobermory's from Sherry casks too.

89/100

 

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #865

Whisky Network Review #1039

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?

Banff 1975 Duncan Taylor Review

Hi everyone,

If you’re ever in D.C., do yourself a favour; dump the wife, dump the kids, dump your plans to go see the White House or Lincoln memorial, don’t bother with the museums or parks. Do one thing and one thing only, get your wallet and head on over to Jack Rose Dining Saloon.

Food is amazing. Atmosphere is great. And the whisky—oh, the whisky!

This one is my first Banff, a long closed distillery that we don’t see much of any more. Don’t know much about the distillery itself, other than it was blown up several times (by fires as well as bombs!).

 

Banff 1975 Duncan Taylor 45.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light

Nose: Old & soft, oaky, silky, floral tones, pressed flowers & homemade paper, kinda intoxicating, old Bowmore-esque, perfumes orange peel, antique furniture, super complex old nose.

Taste: Old and silky, not much power and feels a bit tired, big oak, floral here too, Wood and spice, slightly soapy lavender, Parma violets. It’s definitely over the hill though. Like an 80’s Bowmore without the smoke.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Soft and a bit flat here, loses its oomph.

My first Banff! 35yo, bottled 2011. Rarest of the Rare. Better as it opened up, though the taste and finish just remained a little lacking.

75/100

Thanks for reading! 

Scotch Review #862

Whisky Network Review #1036

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?

Brora 1972 Cask Sample [Road to #1000, Review #999]

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to explore something that we must all deal with when reviewing and assessing whisky; rarity.

A few reviews ago I gave the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye an 78/100. The 15yo Pappy got 75/100. To be clear, these are good scores. They class these whiskies as ‘Very Good.’ Some people seemed upset that I had given such ‘low’ scores to such rare and expensive whiskies.

But are rare and expensive whiskies worth such huge costs?

In my opinion, no. The most I would ever pay for a whisky is £200 and I have not gone over this amount for a 70cl bottle. The reason for this is that I don’t have loads of money to drop on whiskies that could be good or are rare. I have also found that the value for money goes down rapidly after the £50-£60 mark.

Really, after £200, I have found that whisky does not get better, only more rare.

And we must deal with another question; are rarer and more expensive whiskies deserving of higher scores?

The obvious answer to this is that, no, just because a whisky is rare and/or expensive it should not get a higher score. However, it isn’t as simple as all that. It is easy to start believing the hype before you’ve even tasted a whisky. You can easily convince yourself that the whisky truly is wonderful, it must be, because people pay so much for it.

 

With that in mind, this is the rarest, most ridiculous sample I have ever managed to get my hands on. Brora is rare enough in and of itself but the 1972 vintage is the one that is hyped and people rave about because Brora was the most heavily peated then. This is a cask sample of a still maturing whisky from a single cask that will likely never be bottled. It is old at 47 years in the cask, perhaps the oldest Brora ever tasted. Only a few people will ever taste this whisky, ever.

Brora 1972 Cask Sample 40.1%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Stupidly complex, oils and fruits and wax galore, the best strawberry fruit pastilles ever made, faint smoke, crushed seashells, very Clynelish actually, gorgeous honey, Oolong tea, green tea. More woody and spicy as it opens up- black pepper, complex chocolate notes, then more fruity with fragrant orange peel.

Taste: Soft and lacking power at first, builds though with an emotionality, smoky, wood and oak, tired wood, black tea, leather and old books, very very dry, some black pepper and very light salt, dried orange peel, then the oils and waxes I was looking for. Good mouthfeel for the strength.

Finish: Short length. More smoky here with malty, oils, some fruit and loads of chocolate.

47yo cask sample for the Brora masterclass at the 2019 Whisky Exchange Show. The nose is stellar but the taste and finish are too dry and tired as well as lacking power from the low strength. A shame that this wasn't bottled 20 years ago! A massive, massive thank you to the legend Colin Dunn for letting me try this!! Oh, and thank you to Jason for the photo because I forgot to take one.

As with the 1964 Longmorn, I can give this a score but truly it was more of an experience.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #834

Whisky Network Review #999

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?

Longmorn 1964 Gordon & MacPhail [Road to #1000, Review #996]

Hi everyone,

Gearing up towards Review 1000, we now have one of the oldest whiskies I’ve ever tasted. A Longmorn from 1964!

Amazingly, back at this time, Longmorn still had floor maltings on site and direct fired stills. A huge difference to today’s distillery and, in theory, should be giving this a heavy character.

There’s been quite a few of these old Longmorn’s from Sherry casks done by Gordon & MacPhail but quite a few have been at 40%. Part of what made me jump on this one was that it is cask strength.

Longmorn 1964 Gordon & MacPhail 'The Dram Takers' 53%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Dark-af, old-af and complex-af. Incredibly rich, ethereal ghostly oak, fruit and sweet Sherry, loads of cherry, liquorice, really dense, dark chocolate, pine and outdoorsy forest floor.

Taste: Intense, old, dark chocolate, dry arrival, big kick of spice and tingling oak, dried cherry, leather. Massive whisky, really a lot of oak but really good.

Finish: Long/Very Long length. More dark chocolate, even more oak here, lots of staying power. Emotional. A tad dry here maybe.

Bottled at 46yo. Essentially my tasting notes for this are useless, and the score is probably too. Its an emotional old whisky, similar to Highland Park 40. The oak isn't handled so well here though. The oak is massive, its everywhere and it isn't balanced. So I'm taking a few points off for that... However its about more than just flavour and balance and power and complexity. This thing has an emotional punch that very few others have.

88/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #833

Whisky Network Review #996

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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 1969 Old Malt Cask [Road to #1000, Review #995]

Hi everyone,

More whisky from the 60’s today. This time Campbeltown’s turn!

I was lucky enough to be in Toronto for my birthday earlier this year and I knew about Feather’s Pub from some of the Toronto Whisky Society guys. In particular, I knew that u/TOModera used to go there for some birthday drams and those posts would always make me jealous.

I had planned to have a few whiskies there but only ended up trying two, but both were well worth it.

Glen Scotia 1969 Old Malt Cask 50%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Bourbon levels of oak to start, musty fruit, red apple and black pepper, a little wild strawberry, a delicious toasted marshmallow thing as it opens up, complex florals and candy shop notes now too. Milk chocolate and milky coffee too. Its a little bit tired but in a really interesting way. Big black liquorice coming in now, and continues to develop.

Water: Freshens but brings out some soapy lavender and parma violets.

Taste: Tingly sweetness first, amazingly zingy for this age, incredible fresh strawberry, strawberry fruit pastilles, oily mouthfeel, complex honey and honeycomb too, the oak is in the background with a very soft spice underlying things, black liquorice, some white pepper, a little chilli dark chocolate. Big chewy whisky.

Water: More spice and dry oak bringing it further out of balance. Loads of white pepper. Very dry now.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft and actually quite subtle here, some spicy oak, oils continue to coat the mouth, all about the oils really. More oily and malty chocolate as it opens up.

Bottled 1999, at 30yo. Difficult to score. Super interesting and complex but just a touch tired. The spice bringing it a bit out of balance on the taste too. Water did not help things and I definitely preferred this neat. Anyway, amazing to try.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #832

Whisky Network Review #995

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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 Elgin 1968 Gordon & MacPhail [Road to #1000, Review #993]

Hi everyone,

It is not often I get to taste whisky distilled in the 60’s!

In some ways, it was an innocent time for whisky; sales were going up, things looked bright, new ideas and equipment were being tested, distilleries expanded. Sherry casks were still good shape and decent supply.

Before the law change of 1986, Sherry could be transported to England where the casks would be dumped and then transported on to Scotland. This is what I would term ‘Old School Sherry Casks.’

This 1968 Glen Elgin was distilled just 4 years after their expansion in 1964 and remember that they also use Worm Tub condensers…

Glen Elgin 1968 Gordon & MacPhail 40%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Complex old nose, old style Oloroso sherry, the most expensive black raisins that money can buy, old Jag leather, rich, figgy, honey, darker tobacco and more waxy after some time. Incredible old nose.

Taste: Soft, lacking power of course, but builds in the mid-palate with rich sweetness and restrained oak, raisin and leather, fig, dark chocolate truffles, old school sherry, dark cherry, good quality coffee.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Oily here, sweeter with fig and plum, orange and chocolate dusting too.

Bot 2000. Nose is high 80’s but the taste doesn’t quite live up to it. It’s such a shame that many of these early 2000’s Gordon & MacPhail’s were bottled at 40%abv. There just isn’t quite enough power to keep them going despite the naturally more heavy spirit. Still, this was a pleasure to try.

81/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #830

Whisky Network Review #993

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 [Road to #1000, Review #992]

Hi everyone,

Welcome.

Take a deep breath in. Let it go, out…

There is a scent of pine needles underfoot, the wind is rustling cherry blossoms nearby. Above you a vast volcano looms with some form of inner darkness that you cannot comprehend fully.

Karuizawa

The name is but a breath upon the gentlest wind.

Karuizawa

More forceful now. Impatient. Impossible to ignore.

Karuizawa

Volcanic. Muscular. Now supple and teasing, now devastating.

Karuizawaaaa…

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 60%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Beautiful nose, fresh wild strawberries, orange and raisin, ethereal juiciness and cherry, malt, leather and cologne. Its all pretty muscular and salivating. Mead and old wood and browning red apple and golden raisin and brandy and perfumed wood. Yeah, complex.

Water: Darker, more cherry, black coffee, and very dark chocolate.

Taste: Sweet start, raisin, great oils and dryness, some brandy and leather, plenty of oak, some chilli chocolate, black pepper, orange peel, cherry into the finish.

Water: Still some spices but finds a nice sweet balance, less oak.

Finish: Medium length. More oils, more cherry, some oak, leather and chocolate.

Bottled 2009 at 19yo from a Sherry cask. Incredible nose, taste is a little dry. My second experience with Karuizawa and I was not disappointed in any way. This stuff is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the 1983 I tired but if the taste was on par with the nose, it would be well on its way.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #24

Whisky Network Review #992

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?

Port Ellen 1982 Wilson & Morgan [Road to #1000, Review #991]

Hi everyone,

If you’ve had a look at my Distillery Rankings page, you might have noticed something that wouldn’t surprise you; that Port Ellen and Brora hold the top spots… BY 5 WHOLE POINTS.

This probably wouldn’t surprise you because we all know that the whisky is old, expensive, hyped, etc.

But I’ve been thinking about this lately: why do I rate these whiskies so highly? Is it just because of my expectations? Would I rate the whisky the same if I tasted it blind?

I guess partially it also comes down to taste. Generally, I seem to prefer older whiskies with a huge amount of complexity that aren’t over-oaked. There really aren’t that many expressions of younger Brora or Port Ellen that we can get hold of, so it makes it hard to try (though Diageo are building the distilleries anew, so we may well do in a few years time). And these days, it is almost exclusively bottled at cask strength, which I also prefer. I like peaty whisky, again, old peated whisky being one of my favourites because as the smoke mellows you get more complexity coming out while still keeping spirit character and power.

Equally, I’m sure that there are very mediocre versions of both Port Ellen and Brora out there, I just haven’t tried many yet. I’m told that there are some disastrous PE’s from Sherry casks.

Anyway, enough rambling. Here’s another PE:

Port Ellen 1982 Wilson & Morgan 60%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Sweet, fruity, smoky, salty and oily. Salted fish, golden raisin, leather and cigar, sea air and salt, great clean lemon, sugared almonds, marzipan, dark chocolate and espresso, liquorice. Lovely nose.

Water: Quite different now, less smoke and cleaner. With more water you get more fruit- lemon, red apple and black pepper.

Taste: Incredible, flawless arrival, oils coating, spot on mouthfeel, then full power peat and minerals (almost Kilchoman-like!) then recedes into sweeter fruitiness, lemon. Really is amazing how powerful and peaty this is after 28 years.

Water: Very clean arrival, amazing development on a great balance of red apple fruit and oily smoke.

Finish: Long length. Awesome and oily, saltiness staying, lovely lemon citrus. Quite simple but, equally, it’s also quite stunning.

Bottled 2011 at 28yo from a Sherry cask. A pretty perfect beast of a whisky. Not massively complex but doesn't need to be. Another one for the 90 Club! And another incredible example of Port Ellen too. I could imagine Kilchoman tasting like this in 20 something years time actually.

90/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #829

Whisky Network Review #991

Network Average: 75.2

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 the Global 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?