Murray McDavid Safe Haven 6yo Mystery Malt [Ledaig]

The Maker

Murray McDavid was the 1994 brainchild of established whisky and wine merchants Gordon Wright, Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin. While quickly successful on the independent bottling scene, things really took off in the year 2000 when they purchased the then disused Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay from Whyte & Mackay for £6 million.

In the years that followed, the McDavid team built Bruichladdich up to being one of Islay’s most popular 'modern distilleries', while at the same time using it as their base for expanding Murray McDavid’s range of independent offerings. Much like what we came to expect of Bruichladdich in those years, Murray McDavid wasn’t shy of the odd marketing gimmick - one of which has resulted in them being the only independent bottler (as far as I can establish) which owns and operates its own fishing boat. Based in Glasgow this boat is used for regular tastings and private hire tours for various corporates looking for something different to do on their away days.

But despite such oddities, it was always the whisky that mattered most with Murray McDavid developing a growing range of releases from affordable blends to some very exclusive bottles that are likely to remain tragically undrunk by those few who can afford them. In its current form this range extends to six release series with names from Mission Gold (the premium releases) and Benchmark (meaning the core standard) through to The Vatting (blended malts) and Crafted Blend (blended Scotch as you’d expect). Yet as I write this it seems that a bit of rebrand is underway with the release of a new ‘Cask Craft’ range which seems to show off some unusual finishes from across Scotland.

Everything changed for Murray McDavid in 2012 when both it and Bruichladdich was sold to Remy Cointreau for in excess of £50 million! This saw the controlling threesome split up with only Coughlin staying on at the distillery as the new CEO. Reynier (who apparently opposed the sale) quickly moved on and has since set up Waterford Distillery in Ireland, and Wright (who once also held the reigns at Springbank) has become as advisor to the little known Ardgowan Distillery Company. Yet despite the hefty purchase cost Remy Cointreau appeared to have had little interest in Murray McDavid itself given that they quickly sold it on to its current owners, Spanish broker Aceo Ltd. In the years since McDavid has been based at the Coleburn distillery in Speyside where it matures all of its bottlings onsite under the watchful eye of a small team.

At this point I have to confess that I have a rather mixed history with Murray McDavid. It was the first independent bottling I ever bought. Indeed, I didn’t really know what an independent bottling was when I got it. I was looking for a Christmas present for my Caol Ila loving girlfriend around 2012 and saw what seen seemed at the time like a very expensive 17yo (1991 distilled) edition for sale online for £65ish. She loved it so much I had to buy another two bottles before it disappeared. We’re now married and one remains unopened in the retirement stash. These days £65ish for a 17yo seems like very good value indeed!

Yet the Murray McDavid’s I've had recently have come nowhere near the level of that Caol Ila. For example, last year I got a ‘Half n Half’ release for my local whisky group and it was easily one of the worst things we have ever drunk. Equally, in the growing space of online whisky reviews and community discussions I struggle to recall a time where I have seen Murray McDavid listed among the best indi bottlers out there – or even mentioned as worthy of consideration. Maybe that’s because they are too small (not that size stops the likes of North Star or Thompsons Brothers), or maybe the quality that was once there is no longer? Which brings me on to this bottle.

The Expression

Scanning through Murray McDavid’s website one evening I could not help notice this newly released 6yo ‘Mystery Malt’. Why it's called a mystery at all is easily the biggest mystery here given that the clues provided make it very easy to identify as a Ledaig: a 1798 distillery off the west coast with a name meaning ‘safe haven’. I can't help but wondering whether it was a condition of sale?

This appealed to me nonetheless as I have been hearing some great things about Ledaig and have been meaning to pick up a recent example. I realise that trying an ID is not the best way to do this, but I felt I was experienced enough with peat monsters to muddle through.

This then is a 2014 spirit which has spent six years maturing in six bourbon hogsheads before spending an additional six months in some Ximénez-Spinola PX casks. While the run is limited to a rather high outrun of 2285 bottles, it’s nonetheless released at 50% and as you’d expect is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour.

The Next Pour

On the nose you’d swear it was a Laphroaig. Very strong peat smoke. Sea salt and thick oiliness. The taste however is somewhat different. Yes that strong salty peat is there but the effect of the PX finish is immediately present and ends up putting the brakes on the phenolic qualities you’d expect from this kind of malt. But there’s plenty of oak char and vanilla, along with a hefty dose of citrus.

My assumption upon buying this given its mystery nature and age was that someone at Murray McDavid realised that what they had from Ledaig was a series of fairly inactive casks so decided to throw them into some PX to round off the youth and cut their losses rather than wait to see if anything interesting happened over a much longer timeframe. Nothing I've had so far has caused me to doubt this hypothesis. The result isn’t a bad whisky. So far at least it’s just very simple and not that interesting. Maybe with time it will develop a bit more.

The Body

I’m sad to report that it hasn’t developed very much beyond becoming much more obviously sweet throughout. Overt sweetness is a criticism often made of Ledaig, so in this circumstance it might not be exclusively down to the PX finish. In this case I'm struggling to separate the sweetness of the spirit from the cask influence, but either way it’s increasingly dominant and has put itself in direct competition with the heavy peat smoke.

Given my unimpressed disposition I decided to share this with friends at a tasting to get some wider input. It’s not like it can score as badly as the ‘Half n Half’ release referred to above. Sadly there wasn’t much of a difference with most of them in agreement that this was thoroughly unimpressive. Across the evening this came in a distant last place. Which is always a bit embarrassing.

Final Thoughts

As the bottle comes to a close this was definitely a case of poor first impressions that were, sadly, never exceeded.

To be kind, this is a £40 bottle of whisky so maybe I should not judge it too harshly. Yet equally, there is a lot of very good whisky available from IDs in this price bracket so even compared to that it isn't much of a defence. Indeed the standard Ledaig 10 is consistently available at £35ish. Maybe instead of buying so many of these on a whim I should wait to see what others recommend. Of course, the challenge there is that by that point so many of the good ones are long gone.

All of which brings me back to where Murray McDavid seem to be at this point. I’ve now had more duds than gems in recent years. Something which is leading me to conclude that they are currently a long way from where they were a decade ago with that unforgettable Caol Ila.

But I’m determined to give them one last chance. I’ve decided to buy their recent Benchmark Glencadam release as I’ve already reviewed both the standard 10 and 15 on the blog so feel ready to explore what an ID can do with such a high quality spirit. Unless that’s back to the former standard, or at least a decent offering, I fear it will be the last of their releases I buy for some time. In the meantime I might seek out some full blown Ledaig.