Quite a work to be done today.
Whisky Corner place, Club session #118 and the whole route to cross:
Ledaig 10 yo 46.3% - bottled in 2016, still not on WB, so I'll give the link to 2015 version.
Nose: smoke, brine, touch of raw potatoes and quite typical rags.
Taste: dense and full, mainly on pepper, salt and smoke. Sweet fruits also.
Finish: medium-long, briny and smoky with some tinges of ashes and nuts.
Overall: very decent 10 yo peater. Tad short aftertaste, though nose and taste are very good.
Score = 21 21 20 21, 83/100!
Ledaig 18 yo 46.3% - batch #2, sherry cask finish.
Nose: salt, some "dirty" sulphur notes which fade away quickly, salami sausage and nuts.
Taste: sweetness and earthiness combined.
Finish: quite long, more smoke here comparing to 10 yo, salt and pepper of course.
Overall: I'd choose 10 yo in terms price/quality, 18 yo is good but a bit "dirty" in the nose (yeah, I'm not a fan of Mortlach either).
Score = 21.5 21 21.5 21, 85/100!
Ledaig 1996/2015 Oloroso finish 46.3% - the label states it's a small batch but I failed to find exact quantity of bottles released.
Nose: less intensive than in 18 yo, though the style is the same.
Taste: salt, tons of spices (pepper, nutmeg), nuts and oranges.
Finish: salty, smoky and peppery.
Overall: fairly good, but I liked standard 18 yo a bit more.
Score = 21 21 21.5 21, 84.5/100!
Tobermory 15 yo 46.3% - isn't produced anymore.
Nose: salt, red berries, even some jam, forest nuts, cut grass, much cleaner than Ledaig style and that's great.
Taste: sweet and spicy, nuts and sour fruits.
Finish: long, peppery and salty with quite a lot of bitter wood.
Overall: clean and enjoyable island malt. Recommended.
Score = 22 21 22 22, 87/100!
Tobermory 18 yo 46.3% - matured in bourbon casks, 3000 bottles released.
Nose: wow, fresh and delicate, grass and floral honey, barley and vanilla notes, even some mint and eucalyptus.
Taste: sweet, elegant, bourbon cask driven,
Finish: long and nutty, soft spices, pinch of salt and Littlemill-style umami tinge, just beautiful!
Overall: clean, fresh and elegant, definitely want one.
Score = 22.5 21.5 23 22, 89/100!
Tobermory 21 yo Manzanilla cask finish 53.8% - 5508 bottles released.
Nose: sweet apples, citrus fruits and pears. Needs some time.
Taste: very strong, spicy, sweet and salty. Nuts and warm wood.
Finish: long, nutty and oaky.
Overall: a bit too strong and not so refined as 18 yo.
Score = 21 21 22 21, 85/100!
Tobermory 22 yo Old Port cask finish - why finish 22 yo malt in Port casks?.. Let's see.
Nose: sweet berries, hint of salt and warm leather. After a while it becomes a little artificial, sort of Turkish chewing gum.
Taste: mainly on red berries and red oranges.
Finish: medium-long, sea water and some bitterness appear in addition to overwhelming port sweetness.
Overall: I'm definitely not a fan of port finishes.
Score = 19 21 21 20, 81/100!
Tobermory 32 yo 1972/2005 49.5% - 1710 bottles released in the blessed 2000-s.
Nose: damn, what a power! Cured pear, wood smoke, 50 tones of sherry, resin, jerked meet, cough syrup and herbs.
Taste: very rich and oily, you can literally chew it, nuts, coffee, leather, white pepper, warm oak, smoke.
Finish: long, smoky, powerful sherry and nice old oak, becomes dry and fresh closer to end which is very cool.
Overall: actually this is my 3-rd approach to this truly great whisky, first score was 94/100, second one was 93/100 (though the bottle was opened for some time already), but this time I'd like to put 95/100. You might be confused with 3 different scores, but please note that the bottles were released back in 2005, might have been kept in different conditions and were paired with totally different whiskies. The only point to underline - savour it fresh, do not keep it long in a bottle.
Score = 24 24 23 24, 95/100!
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