I have an uneasy relationship with Ledaig which might be explained by only having tried Independent bottlings rather than official ones. However, I can go from enjoying a bottle immensely to not clicking with another at all. This is further confused by their malted barley coming from the Port Ellen malting which gives the Islay peaty flavour I like so much in actual Islay whiskies. With this Single Malts of Scotland bottling from the Signatory bottling company I wonder if I will get on any better?

The Dram

This Ledaig was distilled in 2005 and bottled 11 years later where 564 bottled were produced at cask strength and craft presentation. The cask was an ex-sherry butt so a pretty large container so we can expect wood influence to probably fairly limited in the 11 years before bottling.

Bottles of this are still available for £64 from Master of Malt.

Tasting Notes

Colour – vibrant orange

Nose – well done buttered toast and marmite.

Palate – very sweet to start with a dry peat smoke which reminds me of Caol Ila. Bitter saville oranges and cooking apples come in the development.

Finish – A bitter finish with lots of vegetative herby smoke notes.

Final Thoughts

I really quite enjoyed this whisky with its island, coastal influences which were on a similar theme to a Caol Ila in my opinion. The whisky was like I suspected spirit led but this is not a criticism.