The Maltman Ledaig 2007 12 Year Old

This time there's no special story to tell. I just went to my local dealer to replenish my collection, as I've been killing a few bottles during the semi-lockdown . This 12-year-old Ledaig, bottled under 'The Maltman' brand by Meadowside Blending Company immediately caught my attention. Having nothing but good experiences with all other Ledaig bottlings I've tasted so far (off the top of my head: the 10 and 18-year-old, the 19-year-old Oloroso, and even the G&M 12-year-old, ...) I was convinced this would be a great one. Nevertheless, I was in doubt as the shopkeeper had kept a bottle aside from the fourth (and last) limited release of the Ardnamurchan Spirit 2019/AD, which I tried at our last private tasting. For 'new spirit' I remembered this was a great drink. I decided to go the easy route and purchase them both, together with some nice Italian bottles of wine for my spouse. This limited release (289 bottles) was a special German Alba import and has been bottled from a single Bourbon Hogshead at cask strength. The ABV of 52,7% shows slightly in the somewhat sharper medicinal nose. Luckily, after some breath, the sharpness subdued to reveal a nice, pleasant peat-smoke. The palate impressed right away, with hints of smoked salmon, and even some subtly peppered oysters perhaps. I also found a slight hint of salty caramel. Noticing the improvement after some breath, I'm sure this bottle will improve even further now it has been opened. I'm sure the next tastings will open it up even more. The aftertaste was relative long on the salty caramel, while the salmon/oysters faded more quickly. All in all, this proved to be a great dram, but I find it somewhat hard to rate. Its nose didn't blow me away right-away and needed some breathing, but the palate certainly made up for that. It's color also is rather pale, and doesn't impress in the glass, but again, the palate made up for it. It's definitely in my top 5 of peated non-finished whiskies. For now, I'll give it a full and solid 4 stars.