Tobermory Archives - More Drams, Less Drama

Two Tobermory & An Unpeated Ledaig

13th May 202612th May 2026Coldorak

Tobermory is one of those distilleries that rewards a closer look, especially when you bring together a modern core bottling and a pair of older independent releases. The 12-year-old gives a useful snapshot of the distillery’s style today, while the 1995 Hidden Spirits and the 1994 unpeated Ledaig bottled by Spirit Stock offer two very different windows into its older character, one leaning toward Tobermory’s gentler, fruitier side and the other toward the more farmy, smoky identity associated with Ledaig… even though it will be an unpeated one here. Will it be as good as the one we reviewed last year?

Taken together, these three drams make for an especially interesting flight because they show how much personality can shift with age, cask selection, and whether the spirit was made in the peated or unpeated style. Rather than reading like a simple vertical, this tasting becomes a small study in distillery character, independent bottling influence, and the subtle split between Tobermory and Ledaig.

Seven Signatory Vintage 100 Proof #70-73 & #75-77

4th May 202611th May 2026Coldorak

We’ve already tried a few of the releases from the running Signatory Vintage 100 Proof series, but since they continue releasing many of those, let’s review seven out of the eight latest expressions in these series, with all the editions #70 to #77, with the exception of the #74 I couldn’t source. In our glasses today are whiskies from Caol Ila, Highland Park, Linkwood, Mortlach, Ben Nevis, Ledaig and Clynelish. We’ll go in release numbers ascending, so I guess I’ll need a pause in between some drams when going from potentially peated to unpeated!

Unpeated Ledaig Swell de Spirits vs Ledaig 1972

11th January 20255th November 2025Coldorak

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.

The Whisky Cellar Series 004 Tweet Tasting

10th April 20225th November 2025Coldorak

The Whisky Cellar is back with its fourth series of Private Cellars Selection bottlings, but not only. Keith Bonnington, The Whisky Cellar‘s founder and ex-Edrington employee, bought, a few months ago, from his former employer, the Brig O’Perth blend brand. One of his other projects, Scalasaig, also is not only an island whiskies blend, but also now a bottler, with, I imagine, single malts coming from all the distilleries making up the Scalasaig blend. So for this fourth Whisky Cellar Tweet Tasting, we’ll try the Brig O’Perth, a Tobermory bottled under the Scalasaig brand, and three single malts and one single grain part of the Whisky Cellar Private Cellars Selection Series 4. We enjoyed a lot Keith’s selection during the first three Tweet Tastings, so I think we can have high hopes for this Whisky Cellar Fourth Tweet Tasting.