Not so with the F-16, Sam. The night before I flew I spent an hour in the simulator. Crashed every time I tried to land. Even had trouble with straight-and-level when the colonel said, “It’s your jet.” It was “his jet” most of the time, especially when we were close to the ground.

Their spirit takes quite the trip during its existence.

I got the blimp ride by being persistent many years ago, and during the flight, I asked the pilot how hard it was to fly the thing.

“Do you have a pilot’s license?” he asked. “Well, no…” “Oh, alright.” He stood up with the gondola full of passengers (eight, I think), let me sit in his seat, and showed me how it was operated. Everyone else got a turn, too. Really hard to wreck a blimp!

Modern Ledaigs are distilled at Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, aged at Deanston in the Highlands, and bottled back on Mull. Don’t know if our bottle followed that same distilling/aging ritual.

I’d have traded you a fighter ride for the blimp! Very cool.

Light, brilliant gold appearance with decent (but not big) legs.

Upon opening and pouring, the Ledaig offers some peat smoke on the nose, but as time goes on, it fades into the background. Leather joins the smoke, as does a bit of malt.

The whisky is absolute tongue silk. Light to medium in body and smooth from start to finish. I get that heat that two-bit refers to, but I don’t think it’s the alcohol. My rye background makes me think it’s a little peppery spiciness instead. A bit of mint in there somewhere, too, with an underlying malt sweetness. Smoky, yes, but no medicinal iodine.

Warm on the way down, with a dry-ish finish, which is where I pick up a little oak. Man, I’m not a smokehead by any means, but this may be the most well-balanced Islay I’ve ever had the pleasure to try! Plus, if I didn’t know it was bottled at 80 proof, I’d have guessed higher, which scores a couple of points right there.

Thanks John, for this out-of-body experience! I hope we hear from the rest of the lucky ones!

A friend, John M, came by tonight to have us make a few copies of scientific docs for his research. I broke out the sample bottle of Ledaig 1973 16 year old Gordon & Macphail “Connoisseurs Choice” that John H sent me. John M is the one person I know who’s able to appreciate both John H’s gesture and this whisky. Here’s what John M and I thought:

Color: fine gold, crystal clear (a clarity unknown in current OBs)

Body: medium: nice legs but no oiliness

Nose: sweetly complex, leather, hay, malt, (no poignant peat/smoke as I had expected)

Palate: oak, malt, old leather, older mown hay, hint of citrus – maybe orange, vanilla. Gave the middle of the tongue a loitering hot sensation. Warms, doesn’t burn, all the way down, and stays warm for a while. Hand warming the whisky in the Glencairn glass for several minutes opened it slightly and intensified the old mown hay, vanilla, and wood. A most pleasant oak

The finish wasn’t long, but lingered enough for deep contemplation of this wonderful whisky. Ice-rink smooth, exciting, soothing

John Hansell @ original post:

Thank you so very much for sharing this whisky with me. I’ve been allowed to do some terrific things in my life: float for three days on the Navy’s aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, fly in the backseats of the Air Force’s F-15 and F-16 fighters, and a few other things, but getting to share this whisky with John M tonight is bigger than any life goal on my list. Thank you.

Thank you, John.

More to follow ….

Thanks John!

Glad to know you got it safely! Enjoy!

Thanks again, John.

Slainte.

Louis