Ledaig Present Future TWE

Tangy bbq sauce. Rich peaty, smoked meat nose. Citrus. Angel food cake. Heavy and oily. Peat bomb that cascades from tangy meats to earthy smoke. Strong sherry influence. Sea water comes through with a salty finish

Ledaig isn’t as consistently good as the peated Islay malts, but the best bottlings more than hold their own. This is one of them, a well-balanced mix of smoke and sherry flavors with a juicy texture. The nose is nutty with a hint of meaty smoke and fig jam. The palate isn’t particularly complex, but it has a pleasantly heavy mouthfeel and a hint of orange cake. The finish is long, dry and a little peppery, with a bit of mint on the aftertaste. There’s an enjoyable dash of meaty sulphur at the start and end too. I tried this at The Whisky Show when it was launched in 2018 and am grateful to @PBMichiganWolverine for letting me revisit it under more sober conditions. A notch above the official 10-year bottling.

Every year, TWE has a whisky show where in essence they open their doors and you can try millions of pours from mundane to ultra-exotic. Unfortunately, I never made it out to London during that time. But, for this occasion, every year, they choose a few bottles of their own selection for the show. These are always really good, since it’s their representative. Last year, their theme for the representatives was “past”, “ future”, “present”. A bottle was chosen to represent each of those phases. For the “past”, a 11 yr fully Oloroso matured Glenlivet. The “future”, a 43 yr Inverogrodon. And “present”, this sherry matured Ledaig. It also comes in really cool bottles—-last year’s was a hologram label. (This year was a label visible in black light only, I think). So—-marketing aside—-lets get to brass tax...how this all stack up? Salty nose...but you can smell the sherry influence as well. Taste is like salt water toffee. Thick and oily, sweet and salty. Really well made, especially considering the price ($70, I think). If you like Talisker Distiller edition, you’ll love this.