Field Briefs: 1972 Ledaig at the Swan Song
The Swan Song in Singapore boasts a wealth of vintage bottles and more recent delights. Some distilleries and styles are more well-represented than others and I noticed during my first visit that there was an entire shelf of Ledaig— many of them from the early 70s and early 90s. I was intrigued and knew right away that I was going to have to come back.
While I only got around to trying one release from the early 90s, I did give an evening over to exploring some of the 1972 bottles. I have always heard great things about that particular vintage and my only prior experience was an absolutely stellar 40 Year from Alambique Classique.
Rather than go for some of the classic and more sought after releases, I opted to pour some of the younger age-statements. I wanted to know what the malt was like when it was younger and how it compared to more recent releases— was that 40 year old magic because of the age, the cask, or the year? I wish I had time to go back again and try some of the more mature bottles and dive in deeper on the early 90s, but alas, time was too short and the bar too well stocked with other temptations!
Whisky Details: Ledaig 13 Year (1972), Gordon & MacPhail, 40%
Nose: Honey and flotsam in the sea— a shipwreck with hessian, salt, and wood; slightly metallic with a tinge of rust, more soft cheese and fresh herbs emerged with time; plenty of OBE— old bottle effect— which hit me like a sepia toned rancio, as if certain elements had paled and faded.
Palate: Light-bodied with a touch of tobacco and heather, slightly drying, a shipwreck on the beach with hints of hessian or burlap sacks, salt, sand, beach glass, and shells; mineral and herbal with hints of stone fruit pits; a touch of linoleum and old diner at times.
Finish: Short with sun-bleached driftwood and fibrous sisal.
Score: 5 (75)
Mental Image: Beach Shack Mementos
Narrative & Notes: The Swan Song had several of these younger Gordon & MacPhail releases of low proof 1972 Ledaig— when I asked for a recommendation among them, this was the bottle that came up. I was warned that it carried some OBE, old bottle effect. If I had the time, I would have tried all of its slightly younger companions as well.
The whisky was a fantastic example of the old bottle effect with a faded and muted quality that lends itself to a particular kind of rancio. In the worst of cases, OBE can come off a touch rancid or like boiled cabbage in my experience. This was fine— it had the muted and mellow quality of a low proof whisky that had likely lost a bit more alcohol over the years, but the flavors were pleasant and present with enough patience.
Overall, a good warm up— I hesitated giving this a score considering the age of the bottle. As with anything bottled this long ago, it is reasonable to argue it is not representative of the whisky as it was in 1985. In this case I would probably agree, but I scored it anyway and have, in general, not had a lot of great luck with these very old Gordon & MacPhail bottles.
Whisky Details: Ledaig 15 Year (1972) Casks 1802-1808, 1817 for Full Proof Europe, 43%
Nose: Maritime with rubber buoys and boots, wispy coal smoke, charred fish skins, old wooden chopping blocks at a fish cleaning station— a touch of antiseptic and bleach.
Palate: Light-bodied and austere at first, wispy smoke and wooden docks with tar and rubber buoys; more hot metal with a touch of coal smoke which mellowed toward charcoal grilled fruits and prawns; pepper and tobacco toward the end with hessian and canvas.
Finish: Medium-length with wood, soot, and sea.
Score: 7 (83)
Mental Image: Dockside Redevelopments
Narrative & Notes: Richer and punchier than the previous whisky with bigger, livelier flavors. This 1972 Ledaig felt relatively modern in its totality, without some of the eccentricities I associate with the early 70s. It felt right at home with some of the late 90s whiskies that that have started to be bottled at the quarter century mark. So the whisky felt modern, but it also felt far more mature than its fifteen years.
Overall, a dirtier and more familiar release of older stocks by the distillery during its ramp up and return to production in 1989. This was the kind of dirty maritime malt that I could return to over and over.
Whisky Details: Ledaig 22 Year (1972), Lombard Casks 1693-1694, 46%
Nose: Filthy, meaty, and sweet with motor oil and vanilla cake squared up against charred meats— the trio occasionally carried their meat-char-cream trio toward creamy peanut butter sauce and satay; hot metal and wok seasoning; stained wood and beeswax later on.
Palate: Medium to light-bodied with mellow fruity curds and cream, creamy goat cheese with apricot spread and a touch of vanilla; dirtier further in with motor oil, dirty shop rags, and leather; nutty at times as crushed pecan shells and a diesel powered cracking machine— a distinct memory of the autumn— appeared with toasted herbs, malt, and a dirty char.
Finish: Medium to long with wood, creamy vanilla, wispy smoke, and a touch of fruit skins.
Score: 8 (86)
Mental Image: Hawker Stall Patisserie
Narrative & Notes: Now this was more along the lines of what I expected, and hoped, to find from these Ledaig. I was a bit startled when I sat down to type up my notes and looked to grab some bottle information off whisky base— how in the world does this have multiple scores under 50 points? Even I on my scale, typically tuned lower than most, that kind of a score is reserved for only the worst garbage water.
At least one person indicated they thought their bottle was soapy, wondering about potential contamination. I think that may have been the case as I picked up very little here that I would equate with soap. I am not the most sensitive to those notes, hence my search for soap a few reviews back, but I can typically anticipate when something might come off as soapy for others. The only other thing I can think of is the potential for some auction fixing— poor scores to keep bids down so someone could get a sought after vintage for a deal.
No matter; I thought this was lovely— dirtier and creamier than the others, it was a quintessential weird Ledaig with various layers of flavor melding and occasionally competing.
