Ledaig 20 yo Douglas Murdoch 40% vs Ledaig 21 yo 1973 Hart Brothers 43%
Ledaig 20 yo Douglas Murdoch 40% ~70s distillate
An old school peat cut from the same multicoloured cloth as that spun in Islay circa 1970. Dry dusty peat with black ash, coals and some greasy petrochemical nuances. But this one leans much softer, more elegant perhaps, with calm seaside mannerisms conveying lapping wave sand drying rockpools. By the pier, it’s a fairground with candied apples, toasted marshmallows and puffing diesel generators. Also old books, wet rags, wax cans and empty tins of sugared menthol jujubes which make it warming with a gentle camphorated herbaceousness. Really, a surprising depth. 89 pts
Ledaig 21 yo 1973 Hart Brothers 43%
Feels like a step up in peat and salinity to levels matching what might be distilled along the Kildalton coast. A big and rooty dry peat full of organic material, ash, cold tar, lit coals though not so much a heavily petrochemical or oily style, this being more about fresh composting vegetation and smoke. It’s also lightly medicinal, with a fresh and clean herbaceousness much close to mint bitters rather than pinesap. The sea is crisp and tangy and zings with spray and churned up mud and seaweed. Actually feels a notch simpler but more phenolic. 89 pts
Whiskyrific RSS
- Springbank 32 yo 1966 / 1998 #499 55.1%
- Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%
- Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 / 2019 Single Malts of Scotland for the Nectar #536 51.3% vs A Speyside Distillery 32 yo 1989 / 2022 Thompson Bros 51.4%
- Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 61.1% vs Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 58.7%
- Talimburg 19 yo 1986 / 2005 The Whisky Fair #1485 45.9% vs Talisker 20 yo 1981 / 2002 62%
- Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
- Clynelish 29 yo 1965 Whyte & Whyte 52.1%
- Brora 21 yo 1982 / 2003 Signatory #416 58.4% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2009 Synch Eli Daily Dram 46%
- Dornoch 5 yo 2017 / 2023 #46 ‘Jasper Broers’ 57.9% vs Shizuoka ‘private cask’ 2017 / 2022 #2017-108 61%
- Clynelish 26 yo 1993 / 2020 Carn Mor #11215 52.7% vs Bowmore 17 yo 2004 /2021 SMWS 3.327 ‘Siren’s Song’ 57.1%
whiskyrific 