Scotch Review #104: Chieftain’s Ledaig 11 Year (Cask #700611)

Distillery: Ledaig

Region: Island

ABV: 58.1%, Cask Strength

Age: 11 years. Distilled June 2007, Bottled September 2018.

Price: $100

Color: 0.1, White Wine. Unchillfiltered and Natural Color.

Nose: (according to the wife) Loads of smoke along with some smoked ham and smoked apples. There’s a bit of cough syrup as well.

Palate: Loads and loads of peat, mainly of the more medicinal kind. It almost feels like it’s Oriental medicine. Besides the peat, there is a lovely savory note of black forest ham—specifically the rind of one.

Finish: Medium in length. More smoke, more medicinal peat. Hint of burnt rubber.

Conclusion: If you’re a peat head, I think you’d love this dram. It’s got so much peat in it that if you gave it to me blind, I’d think it was an Octomore. While the nose is incredibly smokey, the palate is far tamer with the more medicinal flavors in it. The black forest ham is nice to add a bit of a savory element as well. I’m a bit disappointed by the cough syrup and the hint of burnt rubber as both do drag this one down a little bit. I wish there was a little more depth to this dram beyond “Peat, peat, peat” as well. Would I buy another bottle? No. This one will last me quite some time as it is…

Final Score: 80.

Scotch Whisky review #104, Island Whisky Review #19, Whisky Network Review #135

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.