Ledaig 18 Year Old 1998 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 1998 and bottled in 2014. It matured on Refill American Hogsheads.

Oh, yes, good nose. Very sweet on a truckload of vanilla upholstered with some young apples, lots of citrus fruit and gummi bears. Underneath is a layer of cold ashes and a hint of rubber boots. Not really dirty nor very peaty, but pleasant all the same.

It is surprisingly soft on the palate, mildly smoky and a tad alcoholic. Again very sweet. Barley sugar and some farmy notes. Again quite ashy, almost sooty, but very pleasant if somewhat simple. Nothing wrong with that.

The finish offers up some more citrus, dry smoke and lots of sweetness, but is rather short.

So far the Ledaig on American oak perform better than those on sherry casks. In this series at least.

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