Yet more whisky which plays to my typical predilections this month in the form of a 14 year old Ledaig that’s been matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel.
Nose: Grubby for sure – but with a delicate perfumed vein running throughout. Fish stew and rubber goloshes sit with putties and clays whilst prawn shells and saline meet hay barn and medicinal wipes. Cut stems and wildflowers add a somewhat unexpected but not unwelcome refinement to the mire. Water nukes the elegance entirely – bitumen, floor cleaner, fish markets and soot.
Taste: Ash for a fireplace and soot from a trawler chimney combine with surface wipes and medicinal tinctures and bandages. Fish sauce and honey cream follow adding a lightness alongside lemon gel. Dilution again takes things back to a more primordial state – wet smouldering vegetation, burnt rubber and sticking plasters.
Finish: Long and sooty with stepped black tea.
Diluted I’m all over this filth-ridden typically Ledaig-like, Ledaig. But straight out of the bottle, there’s considerable sweetness and daintiness here. That might provide some of you with some additional appeals – but personally, I’d rather just stick to grubbiness from start to finish and not confuse things.