Lady of the Glen Ledaig 10yo Whisky Review!

This was something of an impulse buy, although the packaging did make me hesitate! Ledaig is generally decent, but sometimes average; often good, and sometimes incredible. Hopefully this is one of the latter!

Lady of the Glen is a small, privately-owned independent bottler based in the town of Dunfermline, just north of Edinburgh. This relatively new bottler was founded in 2012, although that could be considered teenaged with the recent explosion in independent bottlers around the world. Volumes are tiny in this case, with most releases being both single cask and cask strength. Their bottlings are rarely seen in Australia, seemingly only as "direct" or parallel imports by Melbourne retailer Nick's Wine Merchants. The name 'Lady of the Glen' supposedly refers to a ghost that has been known to roam the grounds of Stirling Castle, while the colouring & floral pattern on the packaging are apparently paying homage to the Scottish wildflower. I have to say though, in my opinion the packaging is absolutely hideous, the outer tube in particular looks cheap and shiny, and the labelling looks like it was typed-up on MS Word and subsequently printed on a 20-year old inkjet. This is among the worst outer packaging that I can recall seeing in recent years, and I'd prefer it if they'd ditched the tube altogether like many brands are doing these days, which would save them a few dollars and in this case would probably see sales increase. The bottle itself is aesthetically passable at least, but they've sadly re-used the same label on the bottle, and it's really not a good look when you're paying the same prices as you do for other equivalent bottlings. I know, appearance isn't everything, it's probably the least important factor, and it's the quality of the whisky in the bottle that actually matters. But when it's this ugly and chintzy, one can't help but notice!

So if that's the case, why did I buy this whisky on face value? Well, mainly because it's a single cask Ledaig, bottled at cask strength, with an age statement, and without chill filtration or added colouring. Also because it has been finished in a refill port cask, which is an unusual cask treatment for Ledaig, and is still relatively uncommon in Scotch whisky. Most port cask Scotch whiskies use full-size port pipe casks, which hold 550-600-litres - as opposed to the use of port casks in Australian whisky, which tend to be 20, 50 or maybe 100-litres, but that's a topic for another discussion. This Ledaig has been finished in a refill port barrique, which is a general term for a wine hogshead of around 225-litres. Personally I've only had one port cask influenced Ledaig previously, and while that cask was first-fill and fully-matured rather than "only" refill and "only" finished, it was a truly brilliant whisky, probably one of my favourite Ledaigs to date. Which is why, hideously nasty packaging aside, this Lady of the Glen bottling still managed to catch my eye! Pricing was around what you'd expect to pay for this distillery and these specs in Australia, at $199 AUD. Luckily I was then able to split the bottle with a friend, which negated more of the risk and helped get it over the purchasing line. 

Ledaig of course is the peated spirit produced by Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull. The name is pronounced either "Le-chig" or "Le-chayg" or "Lay-chig" depending on who you listen to, and means "safe haven" in Gaelic. The distillery name has alternated between Ledaig and Tobermory over the years, with Ledaig being the area of the town of Tobermory where the distillery is located, opposite the famous colourful harbour pictured above. The distillery was founded in 1798, but has spent a large part of its 220+ year history with the doors closed - almost half of that period in fact, including two separate closure periods of 40-years. The last major closure ended in 1993 when the distillery was purchased by Burn Stewart, who also own Deanston and Bunnahabhain distilleries, and are now owned by South African company Distell. The majority of Distell was recently sold to Heineken, but that sale did not include any of the malt distilleries or whisky brands. There have been two pauses in production since, one in 2012 due to water shortages, and again in 2017 - for over two years - while major maintenance and upgrades were carried out. This Lady of the Glen is a 10-year old single cask, distilled in 2011, finished in a refill port barrique, and bottled in January 2022 at a cask strength of 56.5% ABV, without chill filtration or added colouring. Let's see how it goes!

Lady of the Glen Ledaig 10-year old, 56.5%. Isle of Mull, Scotland.

Distilled 2011, finished in refill port cask, bottled Jan 2022. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. Cask #7006, 339 bottles. 

Colour: Pale amber. 

Nose: Surprisingly soft initially, but opens up quickly with thick, dank, earthy & muddy coastal peat, plus some olive brine, charred lemon, and black pepper. Sweeter notes of freeze-dried strawberries, fresh orange peel, aniseed and burnt honeycomb (a.k.a. cinder toffee in Britain). Some heathery peat smoke, roasted nuts, and sour citrus around the edges. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Oily, big salty, muddy, dank peatiness, slight sour & bitter vegetal notes too. No heat at all. 

Taste: Sweet & fruity entry, before a big whack of that salty, muddy, dank peat takes over. Heathery peat smoke, sweet salt-crusted BBQ seafood, orange peel, touch of thick BBQ sauce as well (sweet & spicy). Roasted nuts, more burnt honeycomb (a.k.a. cinder toffee) and aniseed. 

Finish: Long length. Slight vegetal bitterness underneath that dank & muddy peat, with aniseed, blowtorched orange peel, and charred oak. Olive brine, charred lemon and a touch of dried raspberry around the edges, with that dank peatiness powering through alongside. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Definitely a great Ledaig! I'm glad the packaging didn't actually put me off in the end - maybe that was a lesson that needed refreshing in my mind. This may not be the most complex example of the spirit, it's still relatively young after all, but it has everything that I love in a good Ledaig. That dankness and muddiness, the powerful peat & salt, plus the underlying sweetness, with plenty of flavour & plenty of length. Just what the doctor ordered. Like the standard 10-year old official bottling, this Lady of the Glen Ledaig will have no problem standing up to the bigger names from that other Scottish island which gets most of the attention. The port cask influence is difficult to detect here, save for those subtle berry notes, but I'd say it's also added sweetness and depth without shouting about it and taking the spotlight, which is exactly what you want from a refill cask finish. As much as I like a good sherry-influenced Ledaig, and the spirit does seem to suit sherry casks very well, it's actually refreshing to see something different being used, with a cask treatment that is a off the beaten path. 

So, quite the surprise sleeper here from what is certainly an obscure independent bottler. And it'll easily put more expensive Ledaig bottlings, both official and independent, to shame. Well done Lady of the Glen, but I still wish you'd ditch the outer packaging!

Cheers!