LEDAIG 1972 - ALAMBIC CLASSIQUE RARE & OLD COLLECTION

August 2012 saw my first long overdue visit to the Isle of Mull and Tobermory Distillery... or so I had hoped... unfortunately they were shut down for unscheduled maintenance on exactly the days we were there... but I guess that's as good a reason as any to go back as Mull is a stunningly beautiful island. Some of the small bays -especially Calgary Bay- on the B8073 road looks Mediterranean in the sunshine...

But this post is about whisky, not sandy beaches and piña coladas...

Tobermory Distillery, August 20th 2012 - © The Malt Desk 

Tobermory Distillery in Tobermory is a part of the Burn Stewart Distillers that also own Bunnahabhain on Islay and Deanston in the Highlands and the blends 'Scottish leader' and the ever so popular 'Black Bottle'.

A few years back Burn Stewart decided to drop the evil E150 caramel colouring, chill filtration and up their abv% on their malt bottlings to 46,3% which has done wonders for their products... and what a great step in the right direction for the whisky industry - How I'd wish others would follow...

Tobermory distillery does a peated version of their malt named Ledaig... a good 10 years back some of the Ledaig that were released then was some vile stuff, classified by some as paint stripper or toilet cleanser (harsh statement - I know) in short they were very feinty... but that's over now. Tobermory has gotten its act together and is now releasing a very good standard Tobermory and Ledaig 10yo.

But back to today's review. As with any older bottling expectations start to go up a bit, and the one I'll be reviewing today is no exception. We're back in the the early 1970's - the period before automation and when every knob and valve was still operated by hand.
Other distilleries have become legendary due to their fabulous stuff from the 70's... How about Ardbeg or Brora just to mention a couple of the major cult ones?

Let's try a Ledaig from 1972:

Ledaig 1972 37yo (21.12.1972/04.04.2010) 48,1%, Oloroso sherry butt#10722, 152 bottles, Alambic Classique Rare & Old Collection

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
Some peat - in no way overwhelming, oranges, dried grapes/raisins, wet newspaper, a bit musty, mellow dark fruits and a slight waste oil dirtiness.

Taste:
Light peat, sherry and nutty, dark tobaccos and chocolates, a few drops of water brings out a little rubbery note and peppery/spicy note and hints of wet hay and brackish water.

Maybe I had my hopes a bit high up for this one as I've previously had a couple (a 72' and a 73') that has been nothing short of excellent. This is still good whisky, but I will not be sharing the much praise this expression has gotten on e.g. Whiskybase.com.

84/100!