Style: Fruity and Oaky
Nose:
Light touches of acetone on a warmer fudge and honey-glazed almonds at the front. Shy but solid stewed fruits emitting an alluring fragrance from the core. White flowers and maple syrup with a tarry speck. Peat smoke has mostly evaporated, or rather, disintegrated and attached onto other elements in the sight. Plastic, redwood, dried white fruits forming another block at the back. A rather pleasant and interesting nose.
Palate:
Layers of peaches, spearmint, walnut and timber shavings weaving an intricate fabric on the palate. The oak sets in quite early, mostly in the form polished wood and armchair. Meanwhile white-yellow fruits glowing ever softly and steadily from within. Ash like snow dust lightly resting on everything. Tiny amount of white sesame and soybean paste, raw almonds and coconut shreds dipped in vanilla cream. The slightest hint of spring onion and spice jazzing at the back.
Finish:
The fruits make another quick flash and slowly disappears on the horizon. Camphor, barley and dried green herbs to finish.
Thoughts:
I had plenty of Ledaig before, but this is my first at this age. Unlike its younger siblings, this Ledaig is no longer a funky smoke bomb which it is known for. The smoke is very much languished and subsumed by the spirit, leaving minimal traces of (mostly) tar and elusive smoke in the fruits, malt and oak. It does not feel like a Tobermory, and the peat drop-off is quite significant which is akin to some of the older Laphroaigs. Interesting dram, a bit overoaked though.
✓ [Recommended if you like the style/distillery]
–Esmond
[45%| Independent Bottling| 1993 Distilled| 2019 Bottled| 55 of 94 Bottles| Cask Number: 245| Natural Colour| Non Chill Filtered| T]
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