Ledaig 14 yo 1972 Gordon & MacPhail 40%

The famous old brown map label. Fat and tarry as Ledaig gets, this is a shining phenol-ridden light from what to me are Tobermory’s best. The diametric opposite 70s Caol Ila, this is a fog of grimy dirty blacks – oils, soot, char and ash, petrochemical muck, oily exhaust. All sticky and stained but alive with an evolving complexity. One finds new nuances every which way. The maritime aspects here clearly present but playing second fiddle, oil slick on brine and muddy catch, medicated ointments going hand in hand with stained shards of mineral sharpness, not forgetting the camphor and herbal bitters. Much overlooked. 90 pts