Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Here are two 13 year old single cask Ledaig’s side-by-side. Though labeled slightly differently, both are from The Whisky Exchange’s Elixir Distillers IB. One comes directly from The Whisky Exchange, the other comes by way of an exclusive bottling for Japan bought recently in Tokyo. So, yea, this ought to be fun!
Tasted on 11/2/2020, neat in a Glencairn.
Ledaig 13 Year (2004) The Whisky Exchange
This is a 13yr Ledaig bottled by The Single Malts of Scotland, a single cask exclusively for Japan.
I bought this bottle in Fall 2019 at M’s Tasting Room in Tokyo. It’s a small shop with tons of mostly IB’s, and being in Japan you can sample everything for a very fair price. Honestly, he didn’t even charge me for all of the samples I tried. I highly recommend this place if you’re ever in the area. Top notch, the owner is a true aficionado, and he’s often there in the shop.
Distillery: Tobermory
Bottler: The Whisky Exchange (TWEx)
Region: Scotland, Islands
ABV: 55.7%, cask strength
Age: 13 years old. Distilled on 02/05/2004. Bottled on 09/22/2017.
Cask type: Hogshead
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. #41 of 307 bottles, from a single cask #900174.
Nose: peat smoke, seaweed, lemon, dry grass, fatty salmon, mineral oil, somewhat herbal, black tea, eucalyptus. With Water: bigger peat smoke at the fore, seaweed, straw, citrus, fatty, herbal, tea. Excellent!
Taste: peat, smoke, light pepper, seaweed, salt, oily, medium-thick mouthfeel, lemon, fatty fish, eucalyptus, hot. With Water: peat smoke, lemon, seaweed, medium mouthfeel, salt builds, fatty fish, oil, herbal, heat is gone, more eucalyptus.
Finish: a nice burst of rich peat smoke, pepper, lemon, oil, seaweed, salt, medium length and fairly consistent, a touch of tannic oak at the end. With Water: very similar, I’m not getting the oakyness out of the end of it anymore.
This is a big, smokey dram with some surprising sea notes, nice citrus, dry grass, fatty, and herbal. Balance is quite good, though heavy on the smoke, and fairly complex. Water opens it up very, very nicely. Gets better the longer it sits with just a splash of water. Very bright and clean notes of lemon, eucalyptus, tea, and peat. This is a real treat; an excellent swimmer.
It’s always nice when a souvenir bottle from a trip turns out to be excellent. And what a bargain: this was only $80!!
Final Score: 92.
Lediag 13 Year (2005) The Whisky Exchange
Another single cask 13yr Ledaig, this one bottled by The Whisky Exchange at 57.4% in 2019 and distilled in 2005. Matured in a single sherry butt, cask #900174, 622 bottles. This is from a bottle split.
Distillery: Tobermory
Bottler: The Whisky Exchange (TWEx)
Region: Scotland, Islands
ABV: 57.4%, cask strength
Age: 13 years old. Distilled in 2005. Bottled in 2019.
Cask type: Sherry Butt
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 622 bottles, from a single cask #900174.
Nose: earthy peat smoke, soot, toffee, sherry, raisins, figs, chocolate, mineral oil, mint, wet grass, I might be crazy but I’m gonna say a hint of Old Bay seasoning. With Water: a bit sweeter, smoke is less sooty, cinnamon, otherwise similar.
Taste: earthy peat, smoke, dry, apricot, pepper, hot, medium mouthfeel, chocolate, toffee, oil, a bit of salt. With Water: very similar.
Finish: big pop of earthy peat smoke, soot, some lemon, still dry, sherry, pepper, chocolate, medium length, a touch of something slightly bitter towards the end I can’t quite place. With Water: the soot is gone from the smoke, still a big pop, some citrus, those sherry notes, light pepper, a little old shoe funk, that slight bitterness is gone from the end. Excellent.
Well this is excellent. Some excellent earthy peat smoke w/ sherry notes, chocolate, toffee, dark stone fruits, and some herbal and wet grassy notes thrown in. Nice complexity and balance. A splash of water works quite well for this: cleans up the smoke a bit, takes away the excessive heat on the palate, and generally opens it up. All-in-all, an excellent dram!
Final Score: 92.
Comparison
Order: 2004 > 2005
These are both excellent, and both really nice surprises. I’m picking the ’04 Japanese bottle over the ’05 TWE bottle because I really dig the bigger smoke on it, I feel like it opened up better with water, and it’s got a clean brightness to it that really shines for me, and that extra note of the sea. Just delicious.
This is exactly backwards from what I would have predicted. I’m usually a heavy favorite of sherried peat, but in this case the bourbon cask wins. Checking back 20 min later I’m even more sure of my ordering. My wife asserts there was never a contest.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 