Part 8 of Reviews from The Single Cask Singapore
Review by: Whiskery Turnip
Singapore is one of my favorite places to visit, and I leapt at the chance to finally return again during my summer conference schedule. I resolved to do a bit more whisky tasting while I was in the country and use my extended stay to drop by new places and meet new people.
We returned to The Single Cask many times in Singapore; the first time was to check out the place (found in parts 1-4). However, the half dozen other trips, usually just for a dram, resulted from that great first experience. No doubt, the fact that we stayed half a block away for part of the visit and walked by Chijmes, the complex in which the bar sits, just about any time we left the hotel, also played a role.
The staff and owners were terrific; happy to talk whisky, explain the story behind different bottles, share some of their favorites, and offer suggestions for food, fun, or more whisky. I love how whisky brings people together and breaks the ice, especially for someone like me who, if you can believe it, happens to be somewhat introverted and a touch shy when not performing or speaking.
Distillery: Tobermory Ledaig
Bottler: The Single Cask Ltd.
Region: Scotland/Island Single Malt
ABV: 44.0%. Cask strength.
Age: 29 years. Distilled on 5 March 1993. Bottled on 7 March 2022.
Cask type: Barrel.
Price: $38/20ml at The Single Cask Singapore.
Nose: Earthy with mellow, funky industrial leather and rubber, mothballs, slightly vegetal with roasted roots and chicory; my wife described it as dried mud on hiking boots.
Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, ginger and muddled herbs, earthy with hints of rubber, sarsaparilla and birch gave the impression of root beer, vanilla, birch, or orange cream soda, hints of lime and tangy mala sauce, underlying earthy turmeric, honey, and roasted root vegetables, new rubber erasers.
Finish: Very long with ginger and lemon.
Mental Image: Elementary School Eraser Collection
Conclusion: Wild stuff— of the four sibling casks of 29-Year Ledaig in stock at The Single Cask, this one was selected by Yi Xian, one of the owners. He explained that, like my wife, he prefers dirty malts and does not mind a touch of rubber or sulfur in the flavor profile. He added that he’s also attracted to austere profiles that do not always appeal to everyone. As we went down the line of options, including a Ledaig clearly pretending to be an earthy-fruity Ben Nevis and another with an award to its name, my wife pointed out this one as the most unusual and, therefore, her preference for a pour.
The keen-eyed will no doubt notice the small bottle outrun from the barrel; someone else out there took half the cask, and I would love to know who so I know where to get more of this. Maturation in a barrel also set this malt apart from its siblings, which were all matured in slightly larger hogsheads.
I loved this Ledaig. It had a real vintage style flavor profile with layers of rubber and dirt— dirty hiking boots, my wife called it— which led to a combination of fruit and sweet spice between a root beer float and a tropical fruit punch. Rubber erasers remained a constant on the malt— but not as a rubbery funk on the palate; instead, it was something closer to the clean sweet rubber smell of a brand-new eraser, the kind you might have collected or traded with friends as a kid or still do.
Armed with some sweet elementary school nostalgia and a beautiful bouquet of contrasting but well-structured flavor notes, I thought this was an outstanding example of the vintage. It was also a great lesson in just how different sibling casks can be after a few years, or decades, of maturation.
Final Score: 89.
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 