Yet another bottling for the German ‘Wu Dram Clan’. I guess Wu Dram is striving to be forever.

This time it’s a Ledaig, or peated Tobermory if you will, from a bourbon hogshead. I was a bit apprehensive about it since there are quite a few 11-ish year old whiskies from this distillery available, and most of the ones I’ve tried were only so-so.

However, after talking to the guys of the Wu Dram Clan, and some people who had already tried the release, I decided to get in on the action and buy a bottle for a Zoom Tasting, or as I like to call them ‘The #staythefuckhome Tastings’.

What made it more awesome was that upon receiving the bottle I also found a free sample of it, for reviewing purposes.

I don’t know much about Tobermory, or Ledaig, which I will hopefully remedy next year when our family holiday to Scotland can actually happen, and our current plans of spending a week on Mull will come to fruition.

Sniff:
The style of peat, quite mellow and rich for the age, is like it’s a mix of highland peat and coastal peat. There’s some earthiness, and some dry oak. Fairly gentle, with some hay, some lemon balm and heather. The coastal notes of brine and sand are present, but gentle.

Sip:
The palate is fairly sharp and dry, with heathery peat and some earthiness too. Some lemon balm, pithy orange peel with some bitterness.

Swallow:
A warming and dry finish, with warm orange and lemon oil. Hay and oak, with heather and peat. Embers and moss.

Well, apparently there is a huge difference between one cask and the other (duh!). I tried several supposedly comparable whiskies over the last few years and none were as good as this one. It made me even reconsider my general feeling towards the releases from the Mull distillery.

I love that there’s a bit of coastal notes, joined by the heathery peat style of the highlands. It works well and makes it far less of a ‘trying to be like an Islay’ whisky. The citrus notes work well with the other flavors as well, and there’s enough room for the spirit to shine through. A great pick!

90/100

Ledaig 11, 2009-2020, Bourbon Hogshead 700056, 54.4%, The Whisky Kingdom for Wu Dram Clan. Available in Germany for € 125