Whisky : Ledaig 10 Year SMWS 42.47 “Oblivious to genius”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islands

ABV : 60.1%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon

Age : 10 Years (Distilled 25 June 2008)

Nose : Salt, Cheetos, salted toffee, and chocolate covered cheese— possibly a cheese and nut platter.  Honey sweetened applesauce along with medicinal and antiseptic notes of cleaning products provide some of the typical funky salty Ledaig aroma.

Palate :  Opens with acidic fruits that transition into mineral-metallic notes of hard water and greased machinery.  Sweet and nutty like peanut brittle, nougat, and honey roasted peanuts.  Sea salt and a faint tobacco smoke arrive on the end along with a spritz of saline.  The overall impression is trail mix— nuts, chocolate, and salty crackers.

Finish :  Long lingering lemony rind and chocolate.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Trail Mix & Lemonade

Something Better : Ledaig 10Y; Archives 00147 (similar cheese/machinery, more salty maritime/fruit)

Something Similar : Blackadder Peat Reek Embers #7 (similar applesauce, more meat, less complex)

Something Worse : Westland Peated American Single Malt (similar trail mix, more campfire)

Notes : A fascinating Ledaig that combined lovely hints of dark chocolate with dried fruits, nuts, and salty crackers.  The finish drifted between chocolate covered cheese and honey covered apples, while the palate was generally much saltier and waded into the deep end of maritime notes before the finish pulled back into lovely bright waxy citrus peel.  The finish was probably the best part, it was sugary, slightly dry, and hung on the back of the palate.  

Someone looking for classic Ledaig hard cheese rind funk might find this a bit of a disappointment— for example, my wife thought it had a lovely fruity profile, but lacked much in the way of sharpe locker-room and cheese-cave notes she enjoys.  It did not bring the funk and she felt a bit let down.  It was a bit reminiscent of going to see a band you love play live, but instead of playing the crowd pleasing classics, they only perform remixes of lesser known B-tracks.  Some people will dig that, others will feel a bit let down.  Overall, a fine dram, another solid Ledaig, but I do not understand the SMWS name at all.