Advent 2022 #23 - Ledaig 10 2009 Bordeaux Red Wine

With how much I love Ledaig and how well wine casks seem to have done for me, this was never something I wasn’t going to buy. Incidentally, I waited long enough to open it and ended up getting this sample bottle in a pack ordered from the distillery, so decided to save it for its day in an Advent calendar, which has now arrived.

Ledaig 10 2009 Bordeaux Red Wine, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 56.9% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in February 2009 and matured for 10 years in ex-Bordeaux Red Wine Casks before bottling in January 2020. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Auburn, polished mahogany; 1.5.

Nose: Smoked brisket, wine, marshmallow.

Taste: Great feel. Smoke, wood, pepper. Ash, coffee. Tar.

Finish: Tobacco, pepper, musty. Medium-long.

Guess: Ledaig Bordeaux

I have been looking forward to trying this since the moment I heard of it, and boy was I right to feel that way. So many notes that weren’t quite novel, but presented in a more concentrated way that I really enjoyed. It reminds me a bit of how in the first year the final dram was an unbelievably good Ledaig. Missed it by a day for the same thing here, but good enough for me.

Score: 92

Advent 2022 #21 - Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1998

I’m always interested in trying different batches of what is meant to be the same release. Not a ton of exposure to Lagavulin DEs, and I’ve found it to be a dram that goes one way or the other depending on the glass. Let’s see how this goes.

Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1998, Islay Single Malt, 43% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 1998 and matured for 16 years with a PX finish. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.

Nose: Smoke, meat. Maritime, medicinal. Leather, tobacco, rubber, cereal. Pancakes with butter and syrup. Hazelnut coffee (it actually reminded me of a specific vape flavor from when I used to do that – don’t take this as a negative, Phillip Rocke Crème de la crème was the flavor and it’s excellent even though I dislike hazelnut to the point I find Nutella to be gross).

Taste: Musty, wood, spice. A sweetness there.

Finish: Smoked meat. Medium.

Guess: Lagavulin DE. Laphroaig 15 wouldn’t surprise me, but it kinda would.

This is just excellent. Each time I revisited the nose I found something new, and it was more delightful than the last time. It tastes fine and the finish is good, but they don’t compare to the star that is the nose. I hadn’t developed an interest in whisky until well after “the good old days” but this peak into something closer to then, even if just by a few years, is interesting, and I’ll be giving a bit more credibility to declarations that this or that expression isn’t what it used to be.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Bob Dylan with Emmylou Harris – “One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)”

Advent 2022 #7 - Elements of Islay Lp9

 

Hmm, after what was a fine but umtimately disappointing dram yesterday, I’m grateful this one turned up blind as I would not have been too keen on it right on the tails of Lp7. Let’s see how it compares/

Elements of Islay Lp9, Islay Single Malt, 54.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled at Laphroaig in 1998 and matured in an ex-PX butt for 20 years and bottled on 2018 yielding 714 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Auburn, polished mahogany; 1.5.

Nose: Smoke and musty red fruit. Leather, soot. A brightness to it, overall.

Taste: Smoky seafood, pepper, coffee.

Finish: Smoky espresso. Long.

Guess: Octomore, not an X.1.

Damn, what a follow up. The nose of the Lp7 was a bit too gentle, and this makes up for it in all areas. Laphroaig was actually my initial thought, but it felt too robust and flavorful to not be an Octomore. I briefly considered Caol Ila/Port Askaig, but, again, strong notes that are common to Octomore. What a great dram. I liked the PX finish Cairdeas, and really like this full term PX Laphroaig. Excellent cask, excellent dram, and I’m fired up to keep this going tomorrow.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Erasure – “Always”

SMWS Bowmore 15/17 2004 Sister Cask Side by Side: 3.314 “Loungecore stave exoticism” & 3.324 “Split personality”

 

Continuing the trend of a sister cask side by side to mark a 25th review. This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. At least one of these has had fantastic reviews both on reddit and elsewhere. The other is just a bit older. Plus the Islay festival release this year was made up of casks from the same distillation and was excellent, though was a bit too expensive to warrant a bottle. Enough of that, let’s get to the whisky.

Bowmore 15, 2004 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 3.314, Islay Single Malt, 56.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 16, 2004, matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 14 years and finished in a 1st-fill STR barrique for a total 15 years aging yielding 246 bottles. This is part of the Lightly Peated flavor profile named “Loungecore stave exoticism” and was released for the Islay festival in 2020. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn with its sister cask 3.324.

Color: Auburn, polished mahogany; 1.5.

Nose: Fruit, toffee, carfamel, fruity, musty, all under an earthy, smoky “cloud.”

Taste: The nose sells it well. More emphasis on the fruit and must.

Finish: Charred wood, citrus peeks in a bit. Medium-long.

Superb.

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Volbeat – “I Only Wanna Be With You”

Bowmore 17, 2004 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 3.324, Islay Single Malt, 56% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 16, 2004, matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 14 years and finished in a 1st-fill STR barrique for a total 17 years aging yielding 251 bottles. This is part of the Lightly Peated flavor profile named “Split personality”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn with its sister cask 3.314.

Color: Mahogany, henna notes; 1.6.

Nose: Similar to the other. It’s a bit punchier like vinegar (not in a bad way at all, just a slight nostril sting that you get from it), and it’s a bit industrial akin to Longrow.

Taste: Again much like what the nose promises, but adding some heat.

Finish: It drops off right away before working its way back. Chocolate-ish, salty (slight), musty and ashy. Medium-short.

Wow.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Tragedy – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”

I decided my post-review commentary for each would just be the single word I wrote describing my overall impression and let that stand on its own. These are excellent. Very similar, yet different. 3.314 made me upset I waited this long to open it. 3.324 made me upset I passed on other sister casks. These are right up my ally, and are prime examples of the high regard people have for Bowmore IBs. With the blind Advent calendar starting tomorrow, it made me think about it a bit, and the 3.324, blind, I’d guess Longrow or Springbank. It’s hard to imagine a better pair to send me off into the Advent calendar full of hype and love for whisky.

Ardbeg Fermutation

This excited me almost immediately. I wasn’t thrilled about a lot of the things people complained about (at least the accurate complaints, I didn’t share the complaints of an overpriced NAS whisky when the age was both stated and respectable). But still, I was more excited than frustrated at accessibility. A while ago I decided to track information and statistics to get a feel for what about a whisky would make me like it. Things like age, ABV, peatedness, cask types, maturation vs. finish, etc. I also put together a table containing certain production information of distilleries I liked/had interest in. I was interested in how much peat I tended to like, so I tracked malting PPM and new make PPM. I also tracked the fermentation time of the distilleries. As I expected, the bulk of distilleries I considered more preferred was mostly concentrated toward the higher end on the PPM list. Turned out, my most preferred distilleries were also concentrated on the end of the list with longer fermentation times. So the announcement, cheesy as the aliens were, of a distillery I like having fermented for a long time when they typically are not toward the top of that list had me fully enticed for the release. As we all know, the price and availability of this left a lot to be desired, and I couldn’t find it for close to a reasonable price despite months of trying. Fortunately, I managed to win one at an auction after a bit of the hype had died down for not too much of a premium allowing me to try this dram and really test how preferable I’ll find a whisky that had pushed the limits of fermentation, so to speak. Let’s see.

Ardbeg Fermutation, Islay Single Malt, 49.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2007 after an unplanned three week open-air fermentation and matured for 13 years yielding 8,000 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Yellow gold; 0.5.

Nose: Really nice, almost too much. Definite earthy smoke, citrus, floral, wood, seabreeze, apples. Medicinal, cedar, leather, tobacco smoke (like a piper was in the room a while ago). Cake icing on a revisit after having taken a sip.

Taste: Creamy feel, spicy and musty at the gate. Develops bitter and ashy smoke with a sweet undertone taking out the spice and then dancing back and forth with it as the spice and sweetness fight for superiority.

Finish: Big time vegetal/herbal, some salty ham with a nice glaze. Leathery and salty. MediumLong.

Really interesting. The very light color for its age had me a little worried as some of Ardbeg’s premium releases have been maybe a bit young though still enjoyable. However, the fact that it has an age statement quells any concerns about the age and coloring, and this was likely just in lowly-active casks. So I’m expecting this to be spirit forward, and as far as I know, it was indeed. Nothing in the nose wows on its own, but there is so much going on and not in a way that feels disjointed it is collectively a very enjoyable nose. It’s worth noting that incidentally this sat in the glass for about 30-45 minutes due to distractions after the pour, so maybe it wants some breathing time. The palate was similarly diverse and dynamic, and again not in a way that felt like components who are more valuable than the sum of their parts. There was a note on the finish that was a bit more bitter than I’d have liked that held it back, but the part that really lingered did not feature that note and possibly this deserves an additional point (the finish just kept lingering and improving and I did adjust it up one point, the consideration is if it warranted two more). A delightful surprise given the…discussion around it. Worth the price? Probably not quite (but not far off, at least in terms of MSRP). Worth the hype? I’d say so.

Score: 93

Musical Evocation: Týr – “Shadow of the Swastika”

 

Octomore 11.2

 

I saw that this was available from the distillery shop, and since they actually ship to the US, I ordered this when it was a website exclusive rather than travel retail due to the pandemic. It was an easy decision knowing how I feel about both peat and wine casks.

Octomore 11.2, Islay Single Malt, 58.6% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in winter 2014 from the 2013 harvest of 100% Scottish grown concerto and propino barley. 25% was matured for 5 years on Islay in ex-red wine casks from the Pauillac region of France. 75% was matured on Islay in ex-American whiskey casks and finished an for 18 months in ex-red wine casks from the St Julien region of France totaling 5 years. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.

Nose: Red fruit, apples, tobacco, leather. Barbecue. All of it: the sauce, the air, the meat, you name it.

Taste: Nice texture. Smoky and spicy barbecue sauce. Not one that’s both, but a spicy sauce and a sweet sauce together. Salty.

Finish: Smoke, red fruit. Woody, dry. Long.

Awesome all around, a classic Octomore.

Score: 93

Musical Evocation: Woods of Ypres – “Wet Leather”

SMWS Ledaig 9/12/13 2008 Sister Cask Side by Side: 42.43 “Smoky spicy red rye ale”, 42.44 “Winter warmer”, 42.53 “Mull me(n)tal”, 42.60 “Sensationally sensual”, & 42.63 “Thirst aid kit”

 

The SMWS has recently had a fair amount of casks from Ledaig coming out recently, and I happened to have a couple others from years ago from the same distillation, so I decided to do the five of them side by side.

Ledaig 9, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.43, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 59.7% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 9 years and finished in a 1st-fill wine barrique charred and refitted with heavily toasted lids yielding 302 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Smoky spicy red rye ale”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.44, 42.53, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.8

Nose: Burnty, musty, meat.

Taste: Smoky bacon, spiced fruit.

Finish: Smoky, a fruity wave of flavor right after swallowing, smoky toffee. Long.

Really awesome finish, very long. Overall a great dram.

Score: 92

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Ledaig 9, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.44, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 58.5% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 9 years yielding 232 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Winter warmer”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.53, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Deep gold; 0.8.

Nose: Salty smoke, seafood. Industrial.

Taste: Custard, industrial and earthy.

Finish: Smoke, toffee (very crispy/almost burnt), burnt. Long.

A very interesting and fun dram. I did not expect something as light as custard to come in here, but it did.

Score: 87

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Ledaig 12, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.53, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 60.2% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years yielding 303 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Mull me(n)tal”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Jonquil, ripe corn; 0.4.

Nose: Salty smoked meat.

Taste: Some sweet; bitter vegetation; burny.

Finish: Salt, smoked meat. Long.

A solid dram with a very powerful finish.

Score: 86

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Ledaig 12, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.60, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 59.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years yielding 162 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Sensationally sensual”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.53, & 42.63.

Color: Pale gold; 0.3.

Nose: It took a while to figure out what it was, and it was tough to do without consider what it was like relative to the changes in the nose. It went from grilled seafood to beachy tar to light smoked fruit. Really interesting.

Taste: Light fruit. Peppery malt. Spice.

Finish: Light smoke and malt after a peppery start. Long.

For something like a Ledaig, this was surprisingly delicate, and a fun dram to have.

Score: 87

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Ledaig 13, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.63, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 58.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 13 years yielding 164 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Thirst aid kit”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.53, & 42.60.

Color: Pale straw; 0.2.

Nose: Seaside factory, petrichor.

Taste: Green wood, smoked cream (?), a beachy factory.

Finish: Funky, rice pudding, salty.

A really nice one, with a very interesting rice pudding kind of note early in the finish that’s hard to find again.

Score: 90

This was a really fun sister cask side by side. They are all squarely there own thing, but collectively can be accurately described as just really dirty. If you like that profile, any of these will not disappoint. Really interesting how the color got lighter as the age went up, and the ABV wasn’t going slightly downward, either.

Dalmore 12 2006 SMWS 13.77 "Foraging the forest floor"

This is one I’ve been waiting a while to review, and feels a bit like the culmination of the recently reviewed Dalmore samples I posted not too long ago. I took a chance on this when it came up in the “Hidden Gems” of the month email (presumably just marketing for underperforming bottles). It sounded up my alley, and I was in an exploratory mood. Once I opened it, it became one of my favorite whiskies, a real surprise as a peat fan (almost exclusively at that time). Has it remained there?

Dalmore 12, 2006 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 13.77, Highland Single Malt, 59.9% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on September 21, 2006 and matured in a 1st-fill bourbon barrel for 12 years yielding 174 bottles. This is part of the Oily & Coastal flavor profile named “Foraging the forest floor”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold; 0.8.

Nose: Fruit and malt. Mossy, earthy. Some vanilla in there.

Taste: Salt, wood, beach. Woodsy and bitter.

Finish: Malt, cereal, spice, wood. Salt lingering. Long.

It’s tough to say why, as no specific element really jumps out at me here, but this just really hits where I want it to. I’m glad I took that chance, and I’m sad it’s not a regular thing, nor representative of the source distillery.

Score: 92

Musical Evocation: Finsterforst – “Traumwald”

Advent 2021 #17 - Caol Ila 7 2009 Signatory Vintage

This is another of those I picked up mostly just because it was available when placing an order. And it turned up to start the final third of this year’s calendar.

Caol Ila 7, 2009 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 57.2% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 13, 2009 and matured in a hogshead for 7 years and bottled on August 31, 2007 yielding 335 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: White wine; 0.1.

Nose: Smoky, funky, tarry. Smoked seafood.

Taste: Creamy, smoky vanilla, bit of spice, smoked shellfish. A sweetness tries to peek in.

Finish: Leathery smoke, white grape. Medium. After the more present part of the finish is gone, there’s a very long smoky note left over.

Guess: Octomore, X.1 or X.3 since I don’t really detect any wine influence.

Wow, this hit some notes I really associate with Octomore. Though, a young, cask strength Islay isn’t all that far off. I enjoyed this a lot, and after my last Caol Ila with a disappointing nose, it’s a relief. This reminds me of another Caol Ila from Signatory which I enjoyed so much I ended up getting two bottles. This, however, is sadly not as available as that was. It felt nice to be reminded of that Caol Ila. I’ll keep it short so as not to overshare, but lately I’ve not been terribly motivated to keep this up, but this reminded me of what I love about whisky, and I’m hoping it brings back that enthusiasm.

Score: 92

Musical Evocation: Heart – “Alone”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

Port Charlotte MC:01

I’m always interested in at least trying these experimental releases from Port Charlotte. If I could I’d have them all, but not many (if any) make it over here to the States (around me, anyway), so when I see a sample available I go for it.

Port Charlotte MC:01, Islay Single Malt, 56.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2009, 48% matured in French oak casks for 6 years, 52% in American whiskey casks, then put together and matured in Sicilian Marsala casks for 2 years, bottled ultimately after 9 years of maturation on January 16, 2019. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.

Nose: Hammy, smoky. A sweetness trying to break through. After a bit in the glass it does in the form of some vanilla/cream and red fruit with spices.

Taste: Thick. Heat/spice. Orange.

Finish: Warm smoke. Salt. Intensity is short-lived, but the more subtle salt and smoke linger long.

A really strong whisky. Hopefully they continue to make it. If I find myself in a travel shop that has it I’ll definitely be getting a bottle. Between this and CC:01 I am really enjoying this Exploratory Cask series, and I’m looking forward to getting whatever ones I can.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Lana Del Rey – “Gods and Monsters”

Kilchoman 5 2006 SMWS 129.1 "A Smoky, Peachy, Yoghurt of Loveliness"

I was bidding in an auction a few months ago and this happened to come up. Kilchoman IBs are rather rare (as far as I know only a handful of casks have been released by other bottlers, and about half of them were SMWS casks from about ten years ago) so I bid on it, and while it cost a pretty penny, I ended up getting it for much less than what X.1 bottles can go for, particularly from favored distilleries. Anyway, while it tanks the value of the bottle, that’s not why whisky is made so I opened it up and here are my notes.

Kilchoman 5, 2006 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 129.1, Islay Single Malt, 60.2% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on June 28, 2006 and matured in a 1st-fill bourbon barrel for 5 years yielding 235 bottles. This bottle predates the creation of their flavor profiles and was named “A Smoky, Peachy, Yoghurt of Loveliness”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold; 0.8.

Nose: Damn. A minty, stingy (related to stinging, not cheap), salty, medicinal smoke. Snuff. Some kind of candy, maybe mixed up with incense. Could smell this forever.

Taste: Intense. Spice (cayenne), vanilla, medicinal/anise (like one of those lozenges that reminds me of a Rollo or whatever that disc candy is that nobody wanted on Halloween). You can find some peach in there.

Finish: Long. Oaky smoke, a floral note. Tobacco on the back end.

Damn, what a shame this was the first Kilchoman cask the SMWS released. It’s one of the more enjoyable whiskies I’ve had the pleasure of tasting and a lot of the X.1s end up unopened as collector’s items. It’s one of those drams that remind you what made you fall for whisky in the first place. Way more going on than a 5 year old should have.

Score: 93

Musical Evocation: Meat Loaf feat. Marion Raven – “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”

Bunnahabhain 6 2013 SMWS 10.200 "Tuscan drunken chestnuts"/"The storm-tossed sea"

 

Here and forthcoming are each of my reviews of the Bunnahabhains I have acquired from the same distillation conducted independently.

Bunnahabhain 6, 2013 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 10.200, Islay Single Malt, 60.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 17, 2013 and matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 5 years and then a 2nd-fill charred red wine barrique for the duration yielding 285 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “The storm-tossed sea”. It was renamed due to TTB nonsense, and that is the name of the 750ml bottle released for the United States which I have. The name of the whisky for 700ml markets is “Tuscan drunken chestnuts.” Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Meaty smoke, some leather and citrus in there, perhaps leather oiled with a citrus-based product.

Taste: Thick, sweet, some spice.

Finish: Tobacco, wood, smoke.

This is really very nice. I love the meaty notes and the tobacco that comes in there.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: I – “The Storm I Ride”

Bowmore 23 1989 Port Cask Matured

The third of the five birth-year bottles I've acquired to have a dram of on my birthday (revisiting a sample every 5 years to compare that sample to what remains in the bottle. The first two were both Bunnahabhain IBs, so it's nice to move to a different distillery, as well as one bottled by the distiller. Fortunately I decided to include this as one of my birthday drams a while ago, when prices were a bit less high, though even then it was above what I would want to spend unless it were for a special bottle such as this. Hopefully it's worth the price.

Bowmore 23 1989 Port Cask Matured, Islay Single Malt, 50.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 1989 and matured for 23 years in Port casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnt umber; 1.7.

Nose: Big fruit (a distance away from the glass). Actually nosing, blueberry is prominent. Molasses, smoke/smoked potpourri, possibly smoked whiting.

Taste: Tannic/dry. Dark fruit, brown sugar. Smoked caramel.

Finish: Toffee. Coffee. Caramelized brown sugar. Smoky, as if the other notes were prepared over a campfire.

Really nice. Smokier than I expected (a plus) due to the age and Bowmores typically giving me a lower level of peat. It's not huge smoke, but exceeds expectations. It's a great birth-year bottle.

Score: 94

Musical Evocation: Gary Moore – “Over the Hills and Far Away”