
August 16, 2016

Young Ledaig vs. Old Tobermory

And why not?

Tobermory 2007/2015 (52.3%, Beacon Spirits, 169 bottles)

This is actually Ledaig. Please fasten your seat belt, recent vintages of Ledaig have been consistently and constantly astounding in my book. The more recent, the better! Colour: pale white wine. Nose: I’ve promised that I would stop claiming that younger Ledaigs are the new <please insert name of famous Kildalton distillery here>. So I won’t tell you what I think. What is sure is that it’s appropriately tarry/sooty, with a garden bonfire in the background and a large plate of oysters, some smoked. Ever tried smoked oysters? Iodine, of course. With water: hessian and almond oil, bandages and paint thinner. Mouth (neat): dazzlingly fresh, smoky, salty, lemony, crystalline, and tarry. Seawater blended with limejuice and a drop of engine oil. Make that three drops. With water: turpentine, plasticine, lemon juice, brine, just like in <please insert name of famous Kildalton distillery here>. Finish: ashy almonds plus seawater, anchovies in salt, tar. Comments: hope they won’t send a vial into space! SGP:467 - 90 points.

Tobermory 42 yo 1973/2016 (47.7%, OB, 650 bottles)

According to some sources it seems that this old baby’s been finished in oloroso, but some other sources state that it was a full-maturing in sherry. Hope the latter are right, let’s see… Colour: amber/coffee. Nose: old oak and other woods all over the place. New humidor, thuja wood, wax polish… Then more and more tobacco, pipes and cigars (in an old wooden box), roasted pecans and walnuts, heavy toffee, and then this very tiny touch of new plastic than could be found in many older Tobermories, bordering leather. A tablespoon of Chinese plum sauce. Mouth: very oaky, extractive, spicy… Oak essences (menthol, eugenol – I think), bay leaves, cloves, very bitter orange marmalade, black pepper… All this is very extreme, and even biting at times. Perhaps a little tiring, I cannot imagine quaffing more than one centilitre of this in one hour. Goes more towards ‘extreme’ liquorice after one minute or two, Scandinavian-style. Finish: extremely long, tannic and spicy, with more bitter oranges in the background. Comments: at £2,500 a bottle, it’s probably not the best B-F-Y-B whisky that came out this year. And boy does this pachydermic old whisky have oak! SGP:581 - 82 points.

Check the index of all Tobermory I've tasted so far