Ledaig 2005, 11yo Signatory Vintage.

I must confess it took me too long to fully explore releases from independent bottlers. This year alone, I've sampled many single malts from Signatory Vintage, and I must say most are very good. This time, I managed to get a glass of Ledaig 2005, 11 years old, matured in a first-fill sherry cask; drawn from cask #900157, at 56.9% alcohol by volume, with a tawny color. Ledaig is an island distillery with a twin sister, Tobermory, and they deserve more recognition than they currently receive. On the nose, there's a very 'fishy' element. It starts sweet, with a very clean cinnamon note, and some burnt brownies. Lightly peated, with some hard mint candy. After a minute, everything shifts to a herbal, 'swampy' note. Mint tea. After the first sip, the aroma releases a peculiar but not unpleasant scent of fish frying at the beach. New wood, Toffee, and grilled fish. Quite unusual. The palate was very sweet with a peaty character as well. Cigarettes, sour prunes, pepper. A second sip was entirely different, with a rich toffee note, very refined. Dulce de leche and salt. Aftertaste was somewhat one-dimensional, but still very pleasant. Cigarettes, sour prunes; salt and sulfur. Overall, this is a very good whisky, with a strange fishy note in the aroma. The high alcohol content seems ideal for developing the profile of this dram, and I must say it has a good balance of sweet, sour, and peaty elements. My score for it is a solid 88 out of 100.