Ledaig 20 Sestante (Bot. early 90's) Review

Hi everyone,

Despite Ledaig being the favourite whisky of this particular reviewer, a Ledaig has yet to enter the 90 Club…

Until today.

At Limburg, there’s a stupid amount of crazy insane whisky to try. Pretty sure a 1920 Rosebank was part of the mega collection opened without a second thought. Shared with us all.

Me, unable to spend mega-bucks on pre-war Rosebank, spied a redish Ledaig sitting across the aisle from my stand. When it was a little quieter, I wandered over for a look. Only 40%? Nah, I’ll pass.

But it nagged at me. Only 10 Euros, maybe I’ll try it anyway… So the next day I went back. Glad I did.

 

Ledaig Tobermory 20 Sestante 40%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Soft sweet old school Sherry, honey, no peat really but almost old Macallan-like, some florals, perfect cask I think, old leather, rich, dark tobacco. A little smoke starting to reveal itself, chimney soot. Old Highland Park notes now too, funky earthiness and old herb box coming through. Complex stuff.

Taste: Sweet, very old school Sherry, builds without lacking a single trace of power despite the low strength! Oily, malty, not much smoke but dark tobacco, rich, cherry, some soot now, orange, blood orange, white pepper, funky oak, honey, long and complex development. Heather too. More smoke as it opens up.

Finish: Medium/Long length. A beautiful finish that fills you with hope for all whiskykind! Emotional, a little more smoke, more oak with dark chocolate, some coffee, dry oak and cherry.

Such a surprise as I didn't think the strength would manage it! Bottled in the early 90's and possibly distilled in 1971ish. Apparently this is quite a rare one with the castle label.

90/100

Distillery: Tobermory

Average Score: 80.2

Distillery Ranking: 9th/ 66 places

Up/Down: Stayed the same

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #645

Whisky Network Review #768

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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