We’re running out our Italian sessions; we decided to taste a missing whisky, a Ledaig (the peated version of the not particularly renowned distillery of Tobermory, on the island of Mull). In particular, this is a Ledaig distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2011 by High Spirits, historical brand owned by Nadi Fiori (here you can find an article by Davide); since we love analogies, we thought to compare it with an official bottling, the re-launched 10 years old. It’s recommended to taste the younger before, so let’s drink this 10 yo. The colour is pale gold.
N: notice to skippers: this is an “either love it or hate it” whisky. Personal taste here is crucial. We’re welcomed by a pungent layer of organic peat: it’s not very smoky, but there are notes of stable, broth and pork meat… Something iodine, too. Then, here the other main character: the malt. Very young and green, with hints of wet cereal and yeast (porridge!). An evident whiff of lemon zest and a pale fruity side (new make, sugar and candies) difficult to recognize. You need time (a lot of time…) to open up towards more rounded notes of vanilla and biscuit.
P: the palate is more conventional, with a pleasant and typical peated profile. The smokiness increases, with pungent and intense peaty notes, but less offensive than in the nose. There are again strong hints of cereal (muesli), but this time they’re flanked by a sugary sweetness (brown sugar) rather intense and almost creamy.
F: not so long, with muesli, brown sugar and car’s exhaust gas. That sounds weird, but it’s less unpleasant than expected.
With time and oxygenation, it softens a bit, particularly on the nose. That is tough and tricky, anyway. The closest whisky we’ve ever tasted is the Longrow, even if it’s not so “organic”. Onestly, we appreciated its uniqueness and we reccomend a sip (some whisky enthusiasts can literally fall in love with it), but we don’t lose our mind for this rather simple bottling. Instead, we’re curious to taste older versions: a longer maturation could probably rectify some youthful mistakes and add complexity. Maybe it could reach the heaven of quality of Brora… Or maybe it’s only a dream. Our vote is 79/100 and Serge (who describes it as “the farmiest peat ever”) almost agrees with us. Thanks to Luca for the sample!
Recommended soundtrack: Guns N’ Roses – Civil War.
