Ledaig 12 Year Old 2004 Gordon & Macphail Cask Strength Collection 1st & 2nd Fill Sherry Hogsheads #16600503 & #16600506 Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2017) 70cl
A richly flavoured sherried Ledaig that despite its age, produced a large character only amplified by its 55.5% alcohol level.
Arguably the most famous independent bottler of Scotch whisky there is. Gordon & MacPhail was founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. It is now owned by the Urquhart Family who have bow bottled over 350 different expressions from around 69 different distilleries. Gordon & MacPhail is the Trading name of Speymalt Whiskies while also owning the Benromach distillery, which they purchased in 1993. Some of the brands include Connoisseurs Choice, Cask Strength, Rare Old and Speymalt.
This particular bottling was distilled on the 2nd of November 2004, and bottled on the 22nd of June 2017, making it a little over 12 years old. The whisky has been matured in first fill and refill sherry hogsheads, casks number 16600503 and 16600506.
This maturation has given the naturally powerfully peaty and maritime spirit an extra layer of depth and complexity. Drinkers should expect notes of smouldering peat, sea spray, dried fruit, baking spices and dark oak.
The flavours of this dram express themselves powerfully on the palate due to the fact that this whisky has been bottled at a formidable cask strength of 55.5% ABV. As always with this series, the whisky is also non-chillfiltered and free from artificial colour, ensure that the drinker gets to enjoy the spirit’s natural qualities.
Drawn from just two casks, this is a very small batch release,
About Tobermory / Ledaig
Mull's only Scotch whisky distillery produces both peated an unpeated whisky for use in the Black Bottle and Scottish Leader blends, as well as for Ledaig and Tobermory single malts.
It is likely that in its earliest incarnation Ledaig was a peated malt, but in more recent times both peated and unpeated whisky has been made and bottled as both Ledaig and Tobermory. Thankfully, this has now been resolved with Ledaig now only being used for the heavily-peated variant. Equal amounts of both styles are currently being made.
The fermentation time is relatively short, but it is the unusually shaped stills which lie at the heart of the Tobermory style. They have both boil bulbs and a strange S-shaped kink in their lyne arms, all of which increases reflux.
Today, the single malt bottlings are non-chill-filtered and bottled at 46.3% abv.
Mull’s capital may have been built by the Stevensons of Oban [see Oban], but Tobermory’s distillery has had a more chequered career than its mainland relative and with considerably more unusual owners.
It was established, as Ledaig, in 1798 by John Sinclair but like many small sites, the business foundered and it seems to have been silent between 1837 until 1878 when, after a succession of owners, it was finally brought within the DCL estate in 1916. It continued to produce until 1930 when it fell silent for over four decades.
A belated member of a group of old distilleries which were recommissioned in the post-war whisky boom, it was brought back in 1972 by a somewhat unusual joint venture between a Liverpool shipping company, Sherry producer Pedro Domecq and “Panamanian interests”. This unusual arrangement only lasted for three years, although the new owners renovated the distillery and increased capacity.
A short further period of silence ended when a property firm based in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire bought it with the intention of converting some of the buildings to holiday accommodation. Others were used as a facility for storing cheese. It closed again in 1982 for 11 years when its current owner, Burn Stewart (now part of South African giant Distell) purchased it.
In January 2017 Distell announced a major refurbishment plan for the distillery, which would force its closure for two years from 31 March. However, Tobermory's visitor centre would remain open throughout the period.
55.5% ABV
70cl
