The beauty of Independently Bottled whisky often is that it is a fleeting experience. A single cask bottled: gone forever once sold out. Yet, from time to time, there are larger outputs made from larger batches of vatted casks, like the Signatory 100 series – check out my review of their Mannochmore, if you haven’t done so yet. And from time to time, one of these larger releases makes waves among aficionados, like today’s whisky. I couldn’t help but squeeze in a review of the Living Souls Ninety-Nine & One, a blended scotch that has become an immediate hit and has a great story to go with it… or maybe a made-up one? I’ll leave the decision to you, but let’s start at the beginning…
TL:DR: When a whisky is so good, who cares if it was by accident or by design
Score: 8, Something Special
A happy accident?
The Living Souls Ninety-Nine & One, which I am about to review, appeared in late March of last year in the UK and a few weeks later in mainland Europe. Immediately, rumours about this spread like wildfire. Officially it is a 3 year old Blend. Living Souls, through the bottle’s back label, left hints to the real composition of the whisky. According to the back label, this blend was born out of a “happy accident” where, by mistake, someone had mixed a small amount of grain (the One) with a heavily peated Island Malt (the Ninety-Nine part).
But which Island malt? The fact that this is bottled at 46.3% was an obvious hint at CVH’s spirits distilleries. Bunnahabhain, Deanston and Tobermory, all uniquely choose to bottle their core lineup at this ABV. And that, plus the peated Island malt detail, points specifically at Tobermory’s Ledaig spirit. And, rumour had it, specifically 18-year-old Ledaig. A bottle that nowadays goes for well over €100 (closer to 140, last time I looked). That little accident dropped the price to about €65. Definitely a happy accident for us drinkers… or is it?
A case of don’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story?
Many thought this was too good to be true. Who would spill even a drop of grain in a vat of 18-year-old Ledaig? It sounded too good to be true. More than once, while visiting distilleries in Scotland, I have heard the adage “don’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story”. This seems like one of those cases. It is also true that, talking to people in the IB business, I have heard that accidents happen from time to time. This wouldn’t be the first time.
I may be tempted to believe that. If it wasn’t for the fact that Living Souls has released (based on what I see on Whiskybase) a total of five batches of the Ninety-Nine and One. An accident might account for one or two batches (assuming a larger amount was affected). Five starts becoming pretty implausible. As a result, quite a few more cynical (or sceptical) drinkers now believe that the accident story is just a nice marketing gimmick and that the Ninety-Nine and one is a great way for Ledaig to dispose of an overstock of older whisky (maybe not all 18 years old) and for Living Souls to offer an appealing product at a great price.
Be as it may, we as consumers are benefitting from this, if the quality is there, something I’ll check in a moment with the review of the Living Souls Ninety-Nine and One. And maybe both sides are true. Maybe batch one was indeed an accident, which opened the eyes of Ledaig and Living Souls to a larger business opportunity.
Living Souls Ninety Nine & One Blended Scotch
Specs
Price paid: €62.95
Bottled date: 06/03/25
ABV: 46.3%
Natural colour: Yes
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: Bourbon and Sherry (per the label)
Tasting Notes
Colour: a deep amber, with copper and gold highlights. The bottle might say this is aged in both Bourbon and Sherry casks but the colour leans heavily on the sherry side of things
Nose: The aromas are deliciously complex and charming at the same time. Tar, bramble jellies, petrichor, molasses, cardamom and pepper, dried figs, old wood-panelled rooms… every time I stick my nose in the glass, there is something new to discover, betraying age and Sherry influence. Yet at the back, there are still some noticeable spirit-driven notes. Fresh orchard fruit, a lactic buttermilk hint, and some roasted grain notes.
Taste and Finish: the texture is lovely, velvety and coating. It becomes smoky on the palate, with tons of spices: cloves, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and pepper. There is some orange oil, mixed with dried fruits, maybe more dates than figs, and dark caramel—just a touch of cocoa and an underlying maltiness.
The finish is medium in length, spicy and sooty, with an underlying treacly sweetness.
Score*: 8 Something special
Before getting to my reasoning for the very positive score, let me confess that I was initially slightly underwhelmed by the first dram of this whisky. It seemed to be a bit muted and lacked complexity. It was just a matter of time. Give it a good 20-30 minutes in the glass and it will open up splendidly.
(I tasted the Living Souls Ninety-Nine & One on three different occasions for this review. Each time, I gave the whisky at least 20 minutes before writing my notes.)
I have a bit of a mixed track with older bottles of whisky. I am definitely not soemone who sign ups to the belief that oder is better. Some older whiskies are fantastic. Others are good, but fail to justify the extra price tag. This Ninety-Nine and One falls firmly in the first camp, and comes at a fantastic price, which tempted me to add an extra half point to the score. I didn’t but the importance of price might be different for you.
It is a complex, rich whisky which blends cask influence, peat and distillery character beautifully. And, frankly, I challenge anyone to notice any grain influence – accident or not. If you like Sherryed peated malt and you still haven’t grabbed a bottle… what are you waiting for?
* Scores are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
After writing my tasting notes, I always find it interesting to look at other opinions. Here are a review or two of the Living Souls Ninety-Nine and One enjoyed:
Words of Whisky (and a bunch of other Living Souls bottles)
Interested in my take on a specific whisky style? Check the full Journey here and jump to the relevant Chapter.
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