Ledaig 1998 21 YO Marsala Cask Finish

Ledaig 1998 21 YO Marsala Cask Finish, 55.8 %

A small batch distillery bottling here. Vintage 1998, bottled 2020, with a limited availability of 1126 bottles.

Ledaig is of course peated whisky from Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.

The Ledaig 1998 21 YO Marsala Cask Finish is on sale in Norway at NOK 2500 (12643601).

Nose: Yep, it’s a Ledaig alright. Dirty notes of minerals and wet stones. It smells like that little creek above the Jura distillery. Yeah, I used to find some of these notes in Jura as well before, but not on recent bottlings. Peat bog, assorted rocks and Marsala wine mixed in a cask. It’s not all bad, not at all. Love the deep sweetness here. The cool wood smoke is also nice. With time soft oakiness, vanilla, simple syrup and the vaguest memories of fruit.

Taste: Full bodied and peated to the max. The peat hits hard and direct. Flat handed smack to the face. Flat tasting peat as well. Hard. One-dimensional. Beyond the initial assault there is vanilla, sugary sweetness, orchard fruits and white pepper. And the weird minerality - flinty and bitter-ish notes from the riverbed. But on the palate it is more palatable (pardon the pun!).

Finish: Long finish. Deeper sweetness now. The Marsala wine shines through. Caramel, tropical fruits, dark fruits, raisins, figs, dry sherry. The finish is actually very, very nice. It all comes together impeccably.

Comment: Chaos pilot, steering us into a calm and pleasant experience.

Score 88/100

PS! Big thanks to Peter and Knut for the sample.

Sláinte!
-Thomas