Notes on The Casual Dram:09 - Sunday 19 November - Mean Doses Taproom
Notes on the lineup…
Ledaig Blackadder 11 YO 2010 Raw Cask 61% (sherry puncheon)
Ledaig - Meaning 'safe haven' and pronounced 'letch-ick',
Ledaig is the name for the peaty expression made at Tobermory distillery on the isle of Mull. The brand has been around since 2007, but the name Ledaig has a long history. The original distillery built on the island in 1798 was called Ledaig. It had a terrible time of it, being repeatedly mothballed until it was bought in 1979 and renamed Tobermory. It was closed one more time before being purchased by Burn Stewart who launched Ledaig 10 year old in 2007.
Vintage 23.10.2010 - Bottled 2022
11 years old
Cask - sherry puncheon
Number of bottles - 524
Peat 30-40 ppm (typically for Tobermory/Ledaig)
Dailuaine 'Gordon & MacPhail' 2009 / 12 YO 57.3% (first-fill ex-sherry hogshead)
Dailuaine was built in 1851 and by the end of the 19th century it was the largest single malt distillery in Speyside. In 1898, it merged with Talisker to form Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd. The distillery perished in a fire in 1917 and was reopened in 1920 only to be destroyed in another fire in 1959, by which time it had become part of DCL now known as Diageo.
It runs large stills and uses a long fermentation time which would typically result in a lighter, fruitier style. However, it also uses stainless steel condensers which minimise the copper contact at the final stage of distillation resulting in a meaty, heavier malt.
Stated age - 12 years old
Cask type - sherry hogshead
Vintage - 2009
Benriach 2007 13 YO Cask 8736 Batch 17 58.1% (Moscatel hogshead)
Benriach was built in 1897 by John Duff (owner of Longmorn and Glenlossie) at the peak of the Victorian whisky boom (33 distilleries were built in Scotland in the 1890s). The Pattison crash of 1899 triggered a huge downturn in the industry and the distillery was open for only 2 years before shutting for the next 65. The upturn in whisky’s fortunes in the 1960s saw Benriach run from 1965 onwards. It shut in 2001 for two years but was bought and reopened by Billy Walker and the Benriach Distillery Company in 2003/04. Billy brought about a resurgence in the brand. It is now owned by Brown-Forman and Rachel Barrie is the master blender.
Vintage - 2007
Bottled - 2020
Cask number - 8736
Stated Age 13YO
Cask type - Moscatel hogshead
Tamdhu 'The First Editions' 2007/14 YO 59.9% (sherry butt)
Tamdhu was built in 1897 - the same year as Benriach. It fared better than many distilleries built at this time but was mothballed for 20 years in 1927. Highland Distillers owned the distillery for many years, but when Edrington bought the company - Tamdhu was sold on - becoming part of Ian Macleod Distillers in 2011. Most expressions are now 100% sherry cask matured including a superb value cask strength batch release.
“The First Editions” is a range from Hunter Laing consisting of single barrel expressions, always released at natural cask strength, and without colouring or chill filtration.
Cask type - sherry butt
Vintage - 2007
Stated age - 14 years old
