Whisky: William Grant & Sons 26 Year Ghosted Reserve Ladyburn-Inverleven

Country/Region: Scotland/Lowland Blended Malt

ABV: 42%

Cask: Oak

Age: 26 Years (Bottled 2015)

Nose: Waxy citrus and creamy topical Dole Whip pineapple ice cream, mellow dried grass and coastal salinity, fruity almond extract and mint, frangipane.

Palate: Medium-bodied, gentle citrus and dried grass, slight coastal salinity, a touch of tea, dried pineapple, and lime granita, driftwood, jute or hemp twine, heather, and seashells; a bit of herbal funk toward the end.

Finish: Short and drying, slightly waxy with citrus pith and dried grass.

Score: 5-6 (76)

Mental Image: Sepia-tone Dunes

Narrative & Notes: Incredibly mellow and soft, like a faded memory of a beach holiday.  The aroma struck me as beautifully coastal and citrusy with just a bit of tropical flare. With time, additional complexity emerged as dried grass and fruity almond extract appeared. Similar citrus and mellow maritime notions appeared on the palate, though everything was subdued and mild as if flipping through old photographs or paintings of beach dunes and gulls and trying to remember the scent of the sea. The finish was on the short side and drying with just a touch of waxy citrus.

I initially tried this blind as part of our online whisky group’s holiday advent calendar. Based on the citrus and coastal impressions on the nose, I was immediately ready to guess this was a mid-1990s Clynelish— though I was prepared to be wrong as the calendar featured no shortage of curveballs.

Well, I would never have gotten this right as the whisky was a 26-year Blended Lowland Malt from William Grant and Sons featuring two of their ghost distilleries: Ladyburn and Inverleven. Bottled in 2015, the youngest component of Ladyburn that could be in here is 40 years as the distillery closed in 1975.  Inverleven shuttered only a bit more recently, in 1991.  This was probably my only chance to try Ladyburn, even blended with another malt, as the distillery— a malt operation within the Girvan grain distillery— only operated for about nine years, and bottles are scarce.

Overall, a charming whisky.

Theme: End-of-Year Favorites

The theme this December 2023 is cleaning the house, and the reviews posted this month are either things I did not get a chance to slide into a theme week earlier this year, drams I have poured to celebrate the holidays and end of the school year, or as part of our online whisky group’s mystery dram advent calendar. These are posted in no particular order!