Ledaig 12 Year (2008) Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection

Review by: The Muskox

My good friend u/smoked_herring personally hauled this bottle across the Atlantic and pulled it out at the recent meeting of the Toronto Whisky Society. Given the smorgasbord of bottlings on the table that day, my notes for this one are going to be a bit briefer than usual.

Distillery: Tobermory.

Bottler: Cadenhead’s.

Region: Islands.

ABV: 54.9%, cask strength.

Age: 12 years old. Distilled in 2008. Bottled in 2020.

Cask type: Bourbon Hogshead.

Color: No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

Nose: It’s Ledaig! Sweet and savoury. The savoury is barnyard, ancho chilis, and tomato paste. The sweet is chocolate chip cookies, salted caramel, and malt. Ocean brininess as well.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Arrives with strong citrus, cool grassiness, tide-pool brine, and some tropical fruit. Develops to medicinal peat smoke – bandages, tobacco, and burning parchment. Smoked salmon and salted roasted nuts.

Finish: Lingering peat. More barnyard, tobacco, and brine, along with orange peel and Angostura bitters.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Highway to the ocean zone”

Notes: A very good Ledaig! Great complexity, nice earthiness and savouriness, brininess, and balanced sweet notes. There’s even a hint of tropical fruit. It’s a little like a junior version of that “Hebridean Mulligan” bottling. I think the only thing preventing me from liking this more is my personal preference of other peated whisky over Ledaig. So if I were rating this like wine, on pure quality rather than preference, it’d score even higher. This is sure to be a winner for any big Ledaig fans.

Final Score: 86.

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.

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