Whisky : Ledaig 23 Year, Hunter Laing’s Old Malt Cask “Hebridean Mulligan,” K&L Wine Merchant Selection

Country/Region : Scotland/Islands

ABV : 59%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 23 Years (Distilled April 1997, Bottled Sept. 2020)

Nose : Maritime, meat, and smoke.  Grilling thick slices of bacon on a grey morning, salt and mineral laden air, faint coal smoke, oily fish, and a strong cup of lapsang souchong tea.  Sweeter notes of caramelized brown sugar and cinnamon toast crunch.

Palate : Oily and viscous with barbecued seafood, smoke, and saltwater taffy.  Opened with a gust of coal smoke and smoked fish before subtle citrus and ginger emerged.  Maritime salt carried the dram toward sizzling barbecue shrimp, strong tea, and salt water taffy which transitioned into a sweet smokey fruit punch.

Finish : Lingering sweet citrus, ginger, and tea with hints of dirty coal briquettes.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Twilight at the Lighthouse

Notes : An intriguing bottle and one of a number of “mystery” blended malts that arrived on US shores in the later half of 2020 to avoid the US tariff on single malts from Scotland.  K&L made clear on their website that Hunter Laing was able to adjust this single cask Ledaig by “eye-dropper[ing] a tiny amount of 23 year old Talisker into the barrel.”  While I heard from another independent bottler that some of their ‘teaspooned blended malts’ were often paper work fictions rather than someone really going out an eye-dropping or tea-spooning in some other malt, I suppose when you have the warehouse and inventory of Hunter Laing, why not?

Overall, this was absolutely delicious.  I went ahead and poured some to try side by side with the Chieftain’s 21 Year Ledaig that K&L had a couple years ago now and, for me, this bottle was the clear winner.  I was not big on that Chieftain’s bottle— though considering the price I still thought it was a good buy— but this was even more incredible considering the price.  This toned down the sweetness just a couple notches and allowed a great deal more meaty complexity to shine through.