Ledaig 13 Rum Finish Whisky Review!

A rum cask finished Ledaig? Haven't seen that before, you say? Well neither had I! This must be some obscure independent bottling then, right? Wrong! 

It is a distillery exclusive bottling, admittedly. But don't be too disheartened, you don't actually need to make the trek to Mull to get your hands on it. Unlike many, Tobermory Distillery will gladly ship most of its exclusive bottlings internationally. Their online store was even offering free international shipping recently, an offer that I've never seen from any other Scottish operation, and a saving of around $75-80 AUD for those of us down under. So I had to jump at the chance to get my hands on one of these, among some other little gems of course! That amazing offer has since ended, but it's still well worth checking their website periodically for these special bottlings. Yes you'll need to pay customs their usual extortionate amount of money to get your bottle/s into Australia, but again, for unique bottlings like this it's well worth it. Even more so if you live somewhere where this isn't a greedy draconian government trying to rob you at every turn when you dare to buy alcohol. At the time of writing there are a number of releases available in both unpeated Tobermory guise and peated Ledaig guise, and this rum cask finished Ledaig is still available, as is an Amarone sweet wine cask finish and a virgin oak cask finish, not to mention the Tobermory offerings - the 17-year old Madeira cask finish is highly recommended! For what it's worth the same applies to the other two single malt distilleries in distillery owner Distell's portfolio; Islay's Bunnahabhain and the underrated Deanston located north of Stirling in the Highlands. The former is even selling Feis Ile Islay Festival releases on their website, and they've begun distributing them to some international markets in small quantities when they've previously been exclusive to the distillery shop during the festival. Keep these coming please Distell!

The only other rum cask finish Ledaig I'm aware of was a single cask bottling from the maverick independent bottlers Murray McDavid, and I don't believe the distillery has ever dabbled in rum casks for their official bottlings under either the Tobermory or Ledaig labels. Other island distilleries such as Kilchoman and Bruichladdich have played with rum casks in the past, as has Ardbeg with the Drum Feis Ile bottling for 2018 and Talisker with their Special Release for 2020. They're also a semi-regular feature from Campbeltown's Springbank and Glen Scotia, which seems to work very well. But overall rum casks are still a reasonably uncommon thing in whisky, particularly among official bottlings. Which is a bit of a shame if you ask me, because when it's done well the results can be excellent. I do hope Laphroaig have some rum casks in their warehouses, because something tells me that could work very well. Fingers crossed. 

On to the whisky at hand! This is a 13-year old Ledaig that was matured initially in refill bourbon casks and then finished in first-fill rum casks for three years. There's no word on where said casks came from or on the style of rum that they held, but that's a common thing with rum casks. While I don't know the exact reason in this case, it's often because the provenance can't be traced back to the original producers. This distillery exclusive Ledaig was bottled at a cask strength of 54.0%, and naturally it's non-chill filtered and natural colour. This isn't a single cask bottling, but there's no word on how many bottles were released. Never mind all that, let's get into it!

Ledaig 13-year old Rum Cask Finish, 54.0%. Tobermory, Scotland.

Distilled 2009, aged in ex-bourbon casks then finished in ex-rum casks for 3-years. Distillery exclusive. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Peaty & dirty, as any Ledaig should be! Big, oily, muddy, dank peat. Aniseed, salt-laden seaweed, slight whiff of petrol. Sweet shellfish (crab meat?), leafy green herbs, spearmint, and a damp minerality, like volcanic rockpools at low tide. Sharp lime juice, maybe even finger limes. Overripe banana, some dried mango, and caramel tart - thick sweet caramel with sweet buttery pastry. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, sweet, peaty & tarry. No heat at all. 

Taste: Sweet buttery caramel sauce, aniseed, cinnamon & clove spice, leafy herbs, and spearmint again. That dank, oily, tarry peatiness running underneath. Touch of sweet freeze-dried berries, hint of petrol, and sharp lime juice heading into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Sharp zesty lime juice carries through, and the big oily, dank peat comes back to the fore. Buttery caramel sauce, overripe banana, touch of dried berries, and sweet pastry. Zesty lime (maybe finger limes), tarry oiliness, and rocky minerality singing ring through to the end. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Yet another great Ledaig, and a far better showing for their first rum cask release than a certain famous Islay distillery managed back in 2018. The rum cask influence here is more subtle, more supportive and more integrated. The interesting point there is that Mr. Brendan McCarron was formerly at said famous distillery, which shall remain nameless, before becoming Master Distiller for Distell's three single malt Scotch whisky distilleries. While these rum casks obviously would've already been filled before he came on board, he would've been heavily involved in the final vatting, if not entirely responsible for it. He's certainly doing a great job with Tobermory, Deanston and Bunnahabhain, alongside the distillery teams of course. All three are going from strength to strength now!

If you'd asked me twenty minutes ago to name my ideal cask type for Ledaig, I'd probably go with the tried & true first-fill or Oloroso sherry. But the sweet caramel, subtle tropical fruit & herbal notes from the rum casks have worked beautifully with the dank, muddy, oily, tarry & peaty Ledaig goodness. I think we need more rum casks please Tobermory! In fact I'll extend that to all of the peated and/or coastal or island malt distilleries out there. When it's done well, like it has been here, it's a winning recipe. 

Cheers!