The latest releases from The Whisky Agency included a couple of peated whiskies, which we’ll look into today. Each of them has had a French, Spanish or Portuguese fortified wine influence.
Ledaig 18 yo 2008 (51,7%, The Whisky Agency for Friends of Tobermory 2026, Monbazillac barrique, 318 btl.)
Nose: quite a lot of sweet and sooty smoke, with a mild farmy touch in the style of Port Charlotte. Plenty of salty air. This is followed by honey and dark fruit sweetness. Then hints of sour cherry and charred peach. Some fisherman’s rope as well. Full of character but also highly balanced.
Mouth: a bit of everything again: sweet honey, sour fruity notes, deep sooty smoke and a coastal side. A nice oily texture too. Then bonfires on the beach, ripe orchard fruit, earthy wood and salty notes. Getting more spicy towards the end. Dark and intense, but the wine brings elegance.
Finish: long and very ashy, with sweet and sour bonfire smoke, black pepper and citrus.
High complexity, deep flavours and a Monbazillac influence which is never winey. A very successful selection. Yum!
Laphroaig 11 yo 2015 (52,3%, The Whisky Agency for Sansibar 15th Anniversary 2026, first-fill sherry hogshead #6443, 372 btl.)
Nose: I’m picking up toasted redwood first. Then dry smoky notes and slightly sweeter citrus and blackberry, which evolve nicely towards red berry candy. Some medicinal hints in the background (bandages, antiseptics). Roasted nuts, subtle moss and a hint of smoked bacon.
Mouth: rich, but still a little more toasted wood than I’d expect. Black peppercorns, cooked plums and black cherries. The generous baking spice makes it quite wintery. Subtle hints of roasted herbs, salted caramel and burnt orange towards the end.
Finish: long, deeply smoked and slightly more rounded now. Hints of tar and pepper.
Relatively young spirit, coupled to an active (European oak?) cask which draws a lot of attention. Score: 89/100
Ardmore 16 yo 2009 (51,2%, The Whisky Agency for Casa de Vinos / Whisky Abbey 2026, Tawny Port barrique #271, 160 btl.)
Nose: easy to recognize it as a Port cask, with jammy cherries, blueberries and a hint of raspberry. Nicely fruity without an excessive winey note. Then also syrupy and caramelly tones, with cinnamon, earthy notes and mellow smoke that is quite light after the previous whiskies, more like roasted nuts.
Mouth: more cherries and blackberries, but now also a bitter note (orange peels, herbal extract, cranberries) and a more clear winey side, including some tannic elements. Drying pepper, hints of wet soil and leather. Charcoal smoke.
Finish: medium long, with more bittersweet berries, smoke and burnt orange peels.
The Whisky Agency has surprised us with a lot of Port casks in the past few years, as if they bought a defunct Portuguese adega. Most of them were better than I expected, just like this one. Too bad for the bitter edge. Score: 87/100