Coldorak's whisky blog.
We’re flying at high altitude today with two very high-level secret Speyside whiskies bottled in 2017 by Antique Lions of Spirits (ALOS). Antique Lions of Spirits is an independent bottling collaboration based in Italy, but we’ll learn more about it below. In our glasses today are two very old Speyside single malts, distilled in 1973 and 1975, and both bottled in 2017.
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Despite having friends who are huge fans of Ledaig, the peated whisky from Tobermory Distillery, it’s never been something I’ve actively sought out. The few Ledaig expressions I’ve tried so far have failed to win me over. I’ve revisited the Ledaig 10 and 18 a few times, but neither has been to my taste. However, as a whisky geek, I believe in exploring distilleries I don’t naturally gravitate toward. It’s important to gain a fuller perspective of what they can offer and see if they might surprise me. So, when friends offered me 10 centilitres of an unpeated Ledaig bottled by Swell de Spirits and suggested splitting a sample of the highly regarded Ledaig 1972, I couldn’t resist. Despite my bias against Ledaig, the opportunity to explore something so unique and revered was too tempting to pass up. With that in mind, I’m putting these two whiskies head-to-head: a 1994 unpeated Ledaig from Swell de Spirits versus a 42-year-old Ledaig 1972. Let’s see if either of them has what it takes to change my opinion and perhaps even make me a believer.
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In the past, we’ve examined a couple of old Canadian Club whiskies. Yet, their age was determined by the distillation year rather than their actual (unknown) aging period. However, in recent times, Canadian Club has been introducing an array of progressively older releases each year. It all began with a 40-year-old age statement in 2017, and from that point on, each annual release would add another year to its age. Today, we’ll be reviewing two expressions, remarkable by their age statement: the Canadian Club 40-year-old and 42-year-old whiskies.
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