Tasting note by Best of Wines

Ladaig ... wait for it ... Dary!

And we're off with the first day of the Blind Tasting Competition! We wanted to start off this competition with an easier whisky, though we can imagine that the heavy briny, peaty and savory notes might have put off some of the contestants. This whisky was selected by one of the greats in the Dutch Whisky industry, Michiel Wigman. He selected several casks and bottled them exactly how he would like to drink these drams himself. Pure, balanced and above all unadulterated whisky.

With this dram we immediately encounter a part in our rules with some doubt, because what is the distillery? Though Ledaig is made at the Tobermory distillery, it has its own character and clear flavour profile. Ledaig is the peated whisky that is made at Tobermory, and today's dram without a doubt packed a load of peat!

Most of us at Best of Wines love these expressive intense whiskies - though some prefer the slightly smoother whiskies. And this Ledaig is a BIG whisky for certain!

COLOUR
Pale to straw gold, among the lightest from the drams in this tasting set.
NOSE
Clear hints of peat smoke, some brine, almost as if there is a hint of smoked/dried fish in there! This is dirty with motor oil, olives, a hint of oysters, moss, cedar wood and that briny character! Besides these more savory hints, on the background there are some fresh dates lingering along with a light aroma of citrus fruit and honeycomb.
PALATE
A wonderful peatiness keeps dominating this dram, but goes hand in hand with hints of vanilla, citrus, gingerbread and mace and more of those fresh dates, which I really like! With a drop of water a more medicinal character breaks through with hints of laurel liquorice. The brine and smoked fish seem to get together in a more iodine like flavour.
FINISH
The finish is surprisingly fresh opening with a hint of lemon with a touch of vanilla and cedar wood. The finish lingers on for more than 2 minutes developing constantly, changing from peat smoke to brine to ashes, then back to the oysters.

CONCLUSION
Though it has the fruitiness and salinity you also find in Tobermory whiskies, the peatiness is undeniable. This should have automatically led you to Ledaig. The oily structure, along with a hint of brine and the aromas of dried fish should have made it an easy guess for the aficionados of these drams. Absolutely a wonderful glass to open up with for all the peat lovers out there!