Ledaig 2004 Gordon & MacPhail TWE Exclusive

Nose

Huge wood smoke and long-cooked salt-and-pepper seasoned beef ribs roll out of the glass on pouring. Those rounded, meaty flavours slowly burn off to reveal sharper notes of preserved lemon and green leaves. Those two then fade into the mix, allowing earthy peat smoke to come to the fore, savoury, rich and surrounded by black pepper and sea-spray salt.

Palate

Intense sweetness leads, unhinted at by the nose – brown sugar, sweet orange and cocoa. Earthiness, bonfires, and both green and brown leaves emerge: spring fern fields and autumn forests at the same time. Underneath the leafy smoke sits a layer of sweet black liquorice.

Finish

Hot and spicy, with cinnamon and chilli heat. That fades to leave stewed apple and damp leaves.

Comment

An initial savoury smokiness parts to reveal a sweet dram, with fruit, spice and a solidly earthy and peaty core.

Honey, fruit and lime aromas with peat smoke notes.

The palate is smooth with apple, banana and chocolate, complemented by bonfire embers.