Ledaig 13 Year Old 2004 Connoisseurs Choice

I recently was offered the possibility to try no less than nine Ledaig from Gordon & Macphail’s Connoisseurs Choice head-to-head, all distilled between 1990 and 2004 and bottled between 2011 and 2017. Well, that was an opportunity I could not pass up. Let’s give those a go. This is the Ledaig that was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2017. It matured on Refill Bourbon Casks. Notice that G&M keeps bottling them at a younger age. We started out with an 18 years old from 1990 and this one from 2004 is already bottled at the age of 13. Sign of the times?

The nose is quite sweet on lots of vanilla and white fruit, but at the same time I get lemon sherbet, a lovely smoky note – but not in your face – and a nice salty edge in the back. A bit candly-like. And also quite farmy. While I appreciate this a lot, I do like my Ledaig a bit more dirty if you know what I mean.

It is very soft but at the same time quite creamy and smoky on the palate. Breakfast cereals with sweetener, digestive biscuits and vanilla, but also some sweet and sour peat and oyster sap. Almost there.

The finish is medium long with mostly sweet smoke and creamy notes.

We did not quite get there, but this Ledaig confirm my affinity for this malt.

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