Ledaig can be a tricky distillery. It’s often trashy or tasty with little between the two. The trashy side happens less-so with ex-bourbon Ledaig than it does their ex-sherry cask Ledaig, but it still happens. Though just HOW often it happens in a mixed lineup was just one of the questions we set out to answer this evening.
The goal of this night was to do a deep dive into the spirit and the essence of Ledaig itself and reduce some of the cask influence by focusing on ex-bourbon cask. As usual, we decanted and blinded the bottles and the rounds ended up looking like this.
- Ex-Bourbon Ledaig Round 1: 10 years and under
- Ex-Bourbon Ledaig Round 2: 11 years and under
- Ex-Bourbon Ledaig Round 1: 9 years and older
It seems a bit odd to do them like that, but there’s some method to this madness. When doing a big tasting with a narrow focus like this, it’s good to include something that would fit in another round as a hidden reference point; see how it fares and if a thread appears.
Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I know that’s a very non-committal thing to say, but that’s just how it is. Which you’ll see as we breakdown this Ledaig tasting.
Round 1: 10 years and under
1A: A.D Rattray Ledaig 10 years: 58.4% – ex-Bourbon Hogshead
- Nose: Vanilla, peat, mineral, melon, buttery and malty.
- Palate: Vanilla, peat, mineral, melon, buttery and malty.
- Finish: Med -> Peat, vanilla spice
- Overall: (3/5) Touch earthy and a little aggressive, but tasty on the whole and opens nicely with a bit of water.
1B: Claxson Ledaig 10 years (08-19): 54.3% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Peat, malt, minerally spirity vanilla and citrus.
- Palate: Buttery, malty and vanilla mineralness.
- Finish: Medium -> Sweet, smoky and malty
- Overall: (2.5/5) A little on the bland side. Water opens it up to be a bit more buttery, but it’s still a bit weak and underwhelming.
1C: Signatory Ledaig 7 years (09-16): 60.1% – Hogshead
- Nose: Buttery, plastic, malt, peat, vanilla, funk and spice.
- Palate: Buttery, plastic, malt, peat, vanilla, funk and spice.
- Finish: Med-long -> Plastic and peat.
- Overall: (2.5/5) Not a fan of all the plastic notes showing up here. It feels rather raw and unruly and is a bit on the trashy side.
1D: Brachadair Ledaig 10 years (08-18): 59.9% – ex-Bourbon Hogshead
- Nose: Spirity, malty, vanilla, citrus, peat and herbal.
- Palate: Herbal, peat, vanilla, citrus, spirit and bitter citrus peel.
- Finish: Long -> Peat, bitter citrus peel and smoke.
- Overall: (2.5/5) Not a great start to the night, like the previous 2 it’s been spirity and raw with a harshness coming through.
1E: Claxson Ledaig 9 years (07-17): 53.3% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Spirity, malty, honey, citrus, vanilla and peat.
- Palate: Buttery malt, honey, spice, minerality and some citrus and light smoke.
- Finish: Med-> Peat, char and minerality.
- Overall: (3/5) Hmm, not bad. Not great, but not bad.
Round 2: 11 years and under
2A: Hidden Spirits Ledaig 11 years (07-19): 52.2% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Meaty, bready, smoky and spiced with some mineral water and vanilla.
- Palate: Peat, malt, spice, oily fish, vanilla and clay.
- Finish: Med-long -> Malt, smoke, vanilla.
- Overall: (3/5) This has an amazing nose, but the palate is a bit of a letdown. I’m not getting nearly the same profile and that’s a shame.
2B: Nose Art Ledaig 11 years (07-18): 52.6% – ex-Bourbon Hogshead
- Nose: Buttery malt, spice, malt, peat, vanilla, honey.
- Palate: Honey, malt, vanilla, peat, honey, spice.
- Finish: Long -> Peat, vanilla, malt
- Overall: (3/5) Ok. A bit of wax shows up as it opens and it gets a bit softer and waxier with water.
2C: Malts Of Scotland Ledaig 11 years (05-17): 56.2% – ex-Bourbon Hogshead
- Nose: Dried orchard fruit, butter, vanilla, apricots, peat and honey.
- Palate: Honey, orchard fruit, buttery toffee, apricots and smoke.
- Finish: Long -> Minerally, spicy and smoky.
- Overall: (4/5) Ooooh, I’m liking this one! It’s a nice heavy malt with a solid sweet and smoky profile.
2D: Archives Ledaig 10 years: 54.9% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Peat, plastic, fruit, lemon, spirit and vanilla.
- Palate: Peat, plastic, fruit, lemon, spirit and vanilla.
- Finish: Long -> Burnt plastic and fruit juice.
- Overall: (2/5) I’m just not that into this malt.
Ex-Bourbon Ledaig Round 1: 9 years and older
3A: Old Particular Ledaig 21 years (97-18): 50.6% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Spicy, smoky and herbally with some honey and buttery fruit.
- Palate: Spicy, smoky and herbally with some honey and buttery fruit.
- Finish: Med-long -> Minerality and smoke.
- Overall: (4/5) This is a lovely soft and complex whisky that gets bolder as it opens and with water.
3B: SMWS Ledaig 13 years (05-19): 61.9% – 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Cask
- Nose: Malt, honey, smoke, waxy vanilla, herbal and olde candy.
- Palate: Malt, honey, smoke, waxy vanilla, herbal and olde candy.
- Finish: med-long -> Simple and candy sweet.
- Overall: (3/5) Sweetness is more than I’ve found in any other Ledaig.
3C: Blackadder Ledaig 17 years (01-19): 58.3% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Vanilla, candy, peat, mineral, spice and herbal.
- Palate: Vanilla, honey, apples, peat and minerality.
- Finish: Long -> Peat, apples and honey candy.
- Overall: (3/5) Soft and easy to drink with a caramel sweetness creeping in as it open.
3D: SMWS Ledaig 9 years (06-16): 60.9% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Toasted brioche, vanilla, salted butter, graham, peat and minerality.
- Palate: Spirity, minerally and smoky.
- Finish: Long -> Spirit, alcohol and smoke.
- Overall: (2/5) Aw man, this is the second letdown like this. It started out so amazing on the nose, but then just plummeted to the ground with the palate and finish. Oi.
3E: Boutique-y Whisky Ledaig 18 years: 51.7% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Woody, vanilla, buttery, smoky, fruity and malty.
- Palate: Woody, vanilla, smoky, buttery, fruity, and malty.
- Finish: Med-> Spirity, buttery fruit and smoke.
- Overall: (2/5) Starts out mediocre, but as it opens it gets an odd bit of sulfur and when water is added a distinct note of fish oil shows up.
3F: Pearls of Scotland Ledaig 12 years (08-12): 57.4% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Apples, smoke, char and oil.
- Palate: Grilled fruit, smoky oily char (BBQ grill before cleaning) and a touch of spice.
- Finish: Long -> Smoky oily char
- Overall: (2.5/5) Dirty… it tastes and smells dirty. Definitely a trashy Ledaig.
So what was the big takeaway from this night? That ex-bourbon Ledaig is not nearly as exciting as ex-sherry Ledaig. Despite the lesser chance of getting a trashy bottle it’s also just less exciting on the whole. It’s definitely good sipping whisky, but it’s missing the depth this spirit gets in even a refill sherry cask let alone a 1st fill.
Still, the evening was fun, the whisky was educational and the people, as always, were fantastic. What else can you really ask for?
Till next time, cheers!