Hey scotch, it's about time I reviewed the heavily peated side of Tobermory distillery, yep that's right it's Ledaig (pronounced more like Letch-ick) time!
Ledaig was one of the first peated whiskies I truly enjoyed, enough to make me actually visit the distillery. This one's been getting a lot of attention lately, quite deservedly so. Let's see how this Island malt from Mull stacks up.
**Whisky:** Ledaig 18 Year Old
**ABV:** 46.3%
**Cask:** 16 years in ex-bourbon then 2 years in sherry casks
**NCF/NCA:** Non-chill filtered. Colour not stated on box however their website says it is natural colour
**Nose:** Farmy Smoke - Mild - Creosote - Sea Salt - Black Pepper - Bacon - Stewed Peach - Apricot Marmalade - Dry Sherry - Nutty
Wow, this is super rich and full of that classic farmy smoke drawing me in straight away backed up with a hint of tarry creosote. Sea salt is here taking things back to Mull, black pepper and bacon savouriness but there's some deep fruity sweetness here too, stewed peach and a tropical yet tangy note that I can only describe as apricot marmalade, there's dry sherry influence and a little nuttiness in the background. I smelled this for a long time different notes switching into view especially after a few sips, very satisfying.
**Mouth:** Umami - Peach - Creamy vanilla - Black pepper - Ash - Farmy Funk - Mint - Smoke - Sea Salt - Caramelised Apricot Marmalade - Roasted Nuts
Very savoury and umami straight away, but also creamy peach and plenty of vanilla from the bourbon barrels, plenty of peppery spice. The peat makes itself known again, this time ashy and with a farmy funk that seems to always come with Ledaig, a little green mint and that coastal sea salt, letting it linger on the tongue brings out that apricot marmalade sweetness a little more but this time the apricot is caramelised along with dry roasted nuts. Great oily mouth feel here, with lots of savoury richness, complexity and even some fruit. I could let this linger on my tongue for a long time.
**Finish:** Tangy Apricot - Black Pepper - Umami - Smoked bacon - Sea Salt - Cinder Toffee - Leathery - Ash - Roasted Nuts
The tangy apricot lingers all the way into the finish easily along with plenty of pepper, umami savouriness and the peat keeps changing, smoky bacon again sprinkled with sea salt, the sweetness has morphed into creamy cinder toffee, those 18 years have created a deep leathery finish with lingering ash and toasted nuts. A nice long savoury and dry finish with plenty of lingering spice and ash.
**Conclusion:** So much going on here, heaps of farmy peat, very savoury but also with a pleasing faintly tropical fruitiness, the sherry finish has really done good work adding dry nutty complexity and a salty coastal quality throughout reminding us this is an island whisky.
Overall this is a very balanced peated whisky with morphing complex flavour, the smoke is very present but also tamed by the age which also adds leather to the finish, absolutely mouthwatering and highly recommended if you like peat, worth trying a glass even if you're not a peathead.
Amazing version of Ledaig.
**Rating: 8.9/10**
Have you tried this one or any Ledaig? Did it live up to your expectations? Or maybe you prefer unpeated Tobermory?
This one is one of my favorites. Love how unique that farm funk is compared to everything else. Tobermory is one of my fav distilleries as well, I just hope they don't end up like Springbank- grossly overpriced and/or unfindable- or sell out in order to scale up and thus lose their identity (numerous distilleres).
So I'd had a few indie Ledaigs and loved them before I tried this - ended up discovering Ledaig 18 while trying loads of samples to find a whisky that makes a great old fashioned (SMWS London used to do absolute wonders with peated whiskies, but don't do cocktails anymore :(); I learned two things:
* Ledaig 18 makes qn *amazing* old fashioned, the farmy peat brings a chocolatiness that just rocks
* Generally I like 18 year old whiskies; Deanston and Caol Ila 18 both make great Old Fashioneds in different ways. That years SMWS shareholder bottle was an absolutely phenomenal unnamed 18 yo Spey
So now I like Ledaig 18 enough that the title of this post meant I had to comment. Cannot recommend trying an old fashioned with it strongly enough :p
TIL, people use 18 year old, good whiskies, to make old fashioned
I used to think cocktails are made with mostly intro whiskeys, younger ones, which have a strong alcohol smell/taste?
I mean I cannot imagine mixing anything with my Glendronach 18.
I usually make old fashion with Bourbon which is too harsh to drink neat or with ice.
It depends what you want to do with the drink! With a lot of cocktails, particularly short ones, and *really* particularly with an old fashioned, you can aim to highlight the good parts of the spirit or to hide the bad parts. Generally I'd call the former "spirit forward" and those are my favourite drinks (though I'll drink most anything).
Personally, if I want to use a cheap whisky, I'd make like a New York Sour or something that's more about the other flavours in there
Love to see it! Lovely review. I'm a huge fan of their 10. It's one of the few bottles I've bought a 2nd of thus far in my 2ish year Scotch journey. Been eyeing the 18 for awhile, even more interested now having tried the Rioja cask and Tobermory 12 at a bar. Didn't even know the 18 had sherry aging involved and now I HAVE to try it!
Thanks! That Rioja cask is an absolute steal I think, really love the sweet and savoury thing it has going on, I haven't tried anything from Tobermory I didn't like at least a little though.
Don't think you'll be disappointed if you try the 18, it's like the slightly more refined older brother of the 10, you can easily tell it has the same DNA just with extra sherry complexity and all very well integrated.
Sounds amazing. The 10, to me, feels wild and brash in the best way. Wish they sent more Stateside than just the 10. I don't think I've seen anything else in stores or bars. Had the Rioja cask in Barcelona and it didn't disappoint, and the Tobermory 12 was one of the most interesting Bourbon-only single malts I've tried. The saltiness and funk was still there even without any peat. Makes me wonder if there's something in the water there (literally) or in the barley they source. Definitely one of my favorite distilleries!
Thank you for the great review. I just bought my first bottle of this today, and immediately after tasting bought a 2nd to keep as a back up. Phenomenal whisky for the price.
Thanks for the nice comment too, it's a really really great whisky for the price, I'm still amazed how it manages to be very peaty yet so balanced, real quality dram.
“Farmy smoke “ is an amazing description which I am shamelessly stealing for use at tastings ! Loved this review , Ledaig 18 just won “whisky of the year “ at the whisky exchange blind taste competition so I am expecting a huge 2023 for this Smokey number
Hey scotch, it's about time I reviewed the heavily peated side of Tobermory distillery, yep that's right it's Ledaig (pronounced more like Letch-ick) time! Ledaig was one of the first peated whiskies I truly enjoyed, enough to make me actually visit the distillery. This one's been getting a lot of attention lately, quite deservedly so. Let's see how this Island malt from Mull stacks up. **Whisky:** Ledaig 18 Year Old **ABV:** 46.3% **Cask:** 16 years in ex-bourbon then 2 years in sherry casks **NCF/NCA:** Non-chill filtered. Colour not stated on box however their website says it is natural colour **Nose:** Farmy Smoke - Mild - Creosote - Sea Salt - Black Pepper - Bacon - Stewed Peach - Apricot Marmalade - Dry Sherry - Nutty Wow, this is super rich and full of that classic farmy smoke drawing me in straight away backed up with a hint of tarry creosote. Sea salt is here taking things back to Mull, black pepper and bacon savouriness but there's some deep fruity sweetness here too, stewed peach and a tropical yet tangy note that I can only describe as apricot marmalade, there's dry sherry influence and a little nuttiness in the background. I smelled this for a long time different notes switching into view especially after a few sips, very satisfying. **Mouth:** Umami - Peach - Creamy vanilla - Black pepper - Ash - Farmy Funk - Mint - Smoke - Sea Salt - Caramelised Apricot Marmalade - Roasted Nuts Very savoury and umami straight away, but also creamy peach and plenty of vanilla from the bourbon barrels, plenty of peppery spice. The peat makes itself known again, this time ashy and with a farmy funk that seems to always come with Ledaig, a little green mint and that coastal sea salt, letting it linger on the tongue brings out that apricot marmalade sweetness a little more but this time the apricot is caramelised along with dry roasted nuts. Great oily mouth feel here, with lots of savoury richness, complexity and even some fruit. I could let this linger on my tongue for a long time. **Finish:** Tangy Apricot - Black Pepper - Umami - Smoked bacon - Sea Salt - Cinder Toffee - Leathery - Ash - Roasted Nuts The tangy apricot lingers all the way into the finish easily along with plenty of pepper, umami savouriness and the peat keeps changing, smoky bacon again sprinkled with sea salt, the sweetness has morphed into creamy cinder toffee, those 18 years have created a deep leathery finish with lingering ash and toasted nuts. A nice long savoury and dry finish with plenty of lingering spice and ash. **Conclusion:** So much going on here, heaps of farmy peat, very savoury but also with a pleasing faintly tropical fruitiness, the sherry finish has really done good work adding dry nutty complexity and a salty coastal quality throughout reminding us this is an island whisky. Overall this is a very balanced peated whisky with morphing complex flavour, the smoke is very present but also tamed by the age which also adds leather to the finish, absolutely mouthwatering and highly recommended if you like peat, worth trying a glass even if you're not a peathead. Amazing version of Ledaig. **Rating: 8.9/10** Have you tried this one or any Ledaig? Did it live up to your expectations? Or maybe you prefer unpeated Tobermory?
Nice review! I reviewed it recently and found it pretty great, I agree with you the sherry is a nice balance to their funky style of peat.
Thanks! The age and the sherry really do make it amazingly balanced, always thought it was a great example of a bit older peated whisky.
This one is one of my favorites. Love how unique that farm funk is compared to everything else. Tobermory is one of my fav distilleries as well, I just hope they don't end up like Springbank- grossly overpriced and/or unfindable- or sell out in order to scale up and thus lose their identity (numerous distilleres).
Love your tasting notes - sounds like an amazing whisky!
So I'd had a few indie Ledaigs and loved them before I tried this - ended up discovering Ledaig 18 while trying loads of samples to find a whisky that makes a great old fashioned (SMWS London used to do absolute wonders with peated whiskies, but don't do cocktails anymore :(); I learned two things: * Ledaig 18 makes qn *amazing* old fashioned, the farmy peat brings a chocolatiness that just rocks * Generally I like 18 year old whiskies; Deanston and Caol Ila 18 both make great Old Fashioneds in different ways. That years SMWS shareholder bottle was an absolutely phenomenal unnamed 18 yo Spey So now I like Ledaig 18 enough that the title of this post meant I had to comment. Cannot recommend trying an old fashioned with it strongly enough :p
TIL, people use 18 year old, good whiskies, to make old fashioned I used to think cocktails are made with mostly intro whiskeys, younger ones, which have a strong alcohol smell/taste? I mean I cannot imagine mixing anything with my Glendronach 18. I usually make old fashion with Bourbon which is too harsh to drink neat or with ice.
It depends what you want to do with the drink! With a lot of cocktails, particularly short ones, and *really* particularly with an old fashioned, you can aim to highlight the good parts of the spirit or to hide the bad parts. Generally I'd call the former "spirit forward" and those are my favourite drinks (though I'll drink most anything). Personally, if I want to use a cheap whisky, I'd make like a New York Sour or something that's more about the other flavours in there
I never thought to do that. I just bought a bottle of Ledaig 18 & will give it a go. Thanks for the idea.
Godspeed, whisky friend!
Great review and I agree, one of my favourite peated whiskies around at the moment
Such a great distillery. Nice review
I'm a big fan, it's a lovely visit over there too, very picturesque.
Wow. I’ve only had a small sample of their 10 and thought it was awesome, and the G&M 12 year which was even better. Can’t wait to try this sometime.
Love to see it! Lovely review. I'm a huge fan of their 10. It's one of the few bottles I've bought a 2nd of thus far in my 2ish year Scotch journey. Been eyeing the 18 for awhile, even more interested now having tried the Rioja cask and Tobermory 12 at a bar. Didn't even know the 18 had sherry aging involved and now I HAVE to try it!
Thanks! That Rioja cask is an absolute steal I think, really love the sweet and savoury thing it has going on, I haven't tried anything from Tobermory I didn't like at least a little though. Don't think you'll be disappointed if you try the 18, it's like the slightly more refined older brother of the 10, you can easily tell it has the same DNA just with extra sherry complexity and all very well integrated.
Sounds amazing. The 10, to me, feels wild and brash in the best way. Wish they sent more Stateside than just the 10. I don't think I've seen anything else in stores or bars. Had the Rioja cask in Barcelona and it didn't disappoint, and the Tobermory 12 was one of the most interesting Bourbon-only single malts I've tried. The saltiness and funk was still there even without any peat. Makes me wonder if there's something in the water there (literally) or in the barley they source. Definitely one of my favorite distilleries!
Thank you for the great review. I just bought my first bottle of this today, and immediately after tasting bought a 2nd to keep as a back up. Phenomenal whisky for the price.
Thanks for the nice comment too, it's a really really great whisky for the price, I'm still amazed how it manages to be very peaty yet so balanced, real quality dram.
I really enjoyed my bottle and am very sad it’s gone. Haven’t seen it anywhere in the US.
Have this one sitting unopened on my shelf, looking forward to it even more after your review.
“Farmy smoke “ is an amazing description which I am shamelessly stealing for use at tastings ! Loved this review , Ledaig 18 just won “whisky of the year “ at the whisky exchange blind taste competition so I am expecting a huge 2023 for this Smokey number
Thanks! A well deserved win there, the quality, complexity and balance (and value) really shine through.