Some distilleries have a dual a nature. A normal side… and a dark side, if you will. I’m talking about the unpeated versus the peated incarnation. Peat really makes for a radically different whisky, so it’s no surprise that distilleries bottle their unpeated / peated spirits under different names, so as not to create chock for the unwary customer who’s expecting the one by habit but then accidentally buys the other. Such twin spirits include: Bunnahabhain / Stoisha; Bruichladdich / Port Charlotte; Arran / Lagg; Tomatin / Cu Bocan; and let’s not get into Loch Lomonds many aliases.
And then there is Tobermory distillery, and it’s peaty incarnation Ledaig, pronounced “Letch-ick”. I’m not well-acquainted with either version of this distillery, to be frank. I have heard a lot praise for Ledaig, from online reviewers and from my enthusiastic friends Simon and Veronika. Tobermory has gone almost entirely under the radar, except I tried a fantastic sample of a 30yo at Cadenhead’s in Edinburgh a couple of years ago… Oh, wait, that was perhaps from Tormore?
In any case, I’ve saved up three samples each of the Tobermory and Ledaig. Funnily enough from six different mini-bottling sources. Now I wonder: which version is best, and is there a consistent distillery character regardless of the peat?
Tobermory 12yo (Official)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Distillery: Tobermory
Age: 12 year old
Bottled by: Official
ABV: 46.3%
Cask type: 1st fill ex-bourbon & virgin oak
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: Yes
Typical price: €45
WhiskyBase ID: WB202638 (possibly different batch)
Review sample: Official mini-bottle for €6.90
Experience ⚡
Immediately nutty on the nose (walnuts), and oiled oak, hints of something old, dusty and decayed, leading me onto herbal (dried oregano, perhaps). At the same time, there is definitely citrus (orange) and stewed or baked fruits (apples, pears), chocolate, and dessert spices (clove, cinnamon) and vanilla. Lots to discover here. The palate is well-balanced: neither very sweet or dry, there is a robustness to the spirit, a whiff of smoke, fruity tobacco.
Thoughts 💡
I’m really pleasantly surprised. This whisky has complexity beyond its 12 years (actually, there could be older components in here) and exemplifies an ‘island’ style of nutty-herbal-fruity that recently I’m becoming attracted to. Like a good Jura, but where Jura 12 disappoints, Tobermory 12 convinces. I should buy a bottle of this! If I still like it as much next time, I’d not hesitate to call it a personal favourite.
Quality Approved ⭐
Tobermory 21yo (Master of Malt)
Type: Scotch single malt whisky / single cask
Distillery: Tobermory
Age / Vintage: 21 years old / 1994
ABV: 56.9%
Bottled by: Master of Malt
Cask type: Refill hogshead
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: Presumably
Typical price: £140 (sold out)
WhiskyBase ID: WB222957
Review sample: 3cl sample from MoM (forgot what I paid)
Experience ⚡
Oooh! This has some real depth to it. Fresh peaches, toasted nuts, grappa, and oaky spices (cinnamon) and soft vanilla. It gives more of a fresh fruit, perhaps even floral, impression than the 12yo, and delivers these notes delicately, in that way you’d expect from a long, slow maturation in a refill bourbon cask. In the mouth it arrives gently, almost insipidly, but then blooms over the next 20 seconds, becoming robust, malty (rye bread), spicy and fruity, leading into a long finish where a little of the herbal notes from the 12yo can be sensed. The alcohol, although high, is very well integrated. After adding water, I discovered a subtle strawberry note on the nose.
Thoughts 💡
Meesa like. Strangely, this one was bottled in 2016 with an outturn of only 36 bottles! And, as far as I can tell, was sold at MoM sometime 2021-22. I wonder what happened there? Maybe some of the cask was bottled in ’16 and the rest transferred to a different cask to continue to mature. We may never know…
Quality Approved⭐
Personal Favourite❤️
Tobermory 24yo (Official)
Type: Scotch single malt whisky
Distillery: Tobermory
Age / Vintage: 24 years old
Bottled by: Official
ABV: 52.5%
Cask type: Oloroso cask finish
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: Yes
Typical price: £280 – €380
WhiskyBase ID: WB207191
Review sample: 2cl from BWH for €14.90
Experience ⚡
Sherry notes: baking spices (cinnamon), leather, fig chutney, orange, chocolate — but it’s an elegant sherry presence, not a sherry bomb. It also has some autumnal, dusty notes that I found in the 12yo, but at the same time a kind of citrussy freshness, that combine to something almost paradoxical but wonderful. On the palate it’s graceful, carrying the flavours of spices but not the a spicy heat; there’s also leather and plums. I find parallels with really old Armagnac (although my experience with that is limited) but less sweet. The oak tannins are just about right.
Thoughts 💡
This, I think, could serve as reference for a good sherry cask influence. I don’t know how long the sherry finish lasted, but it’s just about right, and I really think the oak tannins hit the sweet spot of a slight dryness that doesn’t become bitter. Bottled at an optimal age, I reckon. The sherry finish really brings a rather different character than the juicy 21yo, but it is just as successful.
Quality Approved⭐
Personal Favourite❤️
What can I say, all these Tobermory’s are fantastic. Have I picked a few lucky samples, or is this simply a top notch distillery? I will certainly continue to probe that question.
Ledaig 10yo (Official)
Type: Scotch single malt whisky
Distillery: Tobermory (as Ledaig)
Age: 10 years old
Bottled by: Official
ABV: 46.3%
Cask type: Ex-bourbon casks
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: Yes
Typical price: €45
WhiskyBase ID: WB210195 (or another batch)
Review sample: 4cl from HomeOfMalts for €6.99
Experience ⚡
A coastal freshness (hot stones, green seaweed), dried citrus peels and apple juice. And, of course, peat—a soft and sweet peat that blends into caramel and vanilla. The palate is consistent with the nose, bringing a warm, earthy peat with fresh seaweed. It’s on the sweeter side, with notes of toffee and banana. Lingering smoke and banana bread in the finish.
Thoughts 💡
This is a really good peaty whisky. But is it as good as Port Charlotte 10? I shall have to do a side by side someday soon! I think the sweetness is not perfectly balanced for me. It feels a little sugary, rather than carried by honey or fruit, for example. I’m perhaps being picky or palate fatigued here, though.
Quality Approved⭐
Ledaig 16yo (Whisky³)
Type: Scotch single malt whisky / single cask
Distillery: Tobermory (as Ledaig)
Bottled by: Whisky³
ABV: 54.2%
Cask type: Bourbon
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: Yes
Typical price: €155 (Germany, 2023)
WhiskyBase ID: WB208276
Review sample: 4cl sample for €11.90 from Flickenschild
Experience ⚡
For the nose, the tasting notes from the 10yo would not be wrong here, but there is more integration, and more stone fruits (nectarine). The spirit has good viscosity, and even minutes after adding water one can see the ripples of it trying to mix in. The peat has more power on the palate that the 10yo; there is also buttery pastry and plenty of vanilla sweetness. Naturally, some ashiness in the finish, accompanied by yellow fruits.
Thoughts 💡
This is really good, with no particular flaws, but if I were to nit-pick I’m maybe missing some surprising elements that makes this expression stand out from other quality peat offerings. It is perhaps the case that the peat masks those subtle nuances that I appreciate so much in delicate unpeated whiskies.
Quality Approved⭐
Ledaig 17yo (SMOS)
Type: Scotch single malt whisky
Bottled by: Single Malts of Scotland
ABV: 53.8%
Cask type: none stated
Unchillfiltered / Nat. Colour: yes
Typical price: €170 for similar bottling
WhiskyBase ID: similar cask
Review sample: 3cl from whisky calendar
Experience ⚡
In all honesty, palate fatigue is setting in, hastened by the peat in these Ledaigs, but I can do a side by side comparison with the 2005 to pick out some notes by contrast. They are indeed very similar, but perhaps this one is slightly more rounded and gives more of an impression of tropical fruit. The seaweed is not so prominent anymore.
Thoughts 💡
Again it’s very good, but personally a bit unexciting. While I do like my bourbon casks in general, perhaps a little sherry would help spice things up here in peat land?
Quality Approved⭐
Clearly, unpeated Tobermory spoke to me more than Ledaig, and in fact I’d say it positioning itself to become a real favourite distillery, that I’ll stock the regular expression of and also search out older bottlings from.
What I could make out the Tobermory character — a combination of fresh citrus and oaky-dusty notes — is not precisely incompatible with Ledaig, but nor is it particularly characteristic of it, being more involved with minerally, seaweedy, and (obviously) peaty. The failure to clearly connect the spirits may be due to a difference in casks types, though. Tober seen as I try some more-y.
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