Ledaig 1995 DRFS (Duckhammer’s Rare & Fine Spirits)

Duckhammer's Rare & Fine Spirits bottled this Ledaig, a 25 year old island malt from 1995, drawn from cask 143 and bottled at 50.6%. Just 231 bottles were filled. Ledaig is the peated malt made at Tobermory on Mull, a distillery founded as Ledaig in 1798. Water comes from the Gearr Abhainn, a private hill loch above the town of Tobermory.

The spirit was worked through high reflux stills from peated malt, for the smoky, maritime spirit Ledaig is known for. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the smoke to the fore. Past twenty years the peat is a soft whisper over a deep, fruity malt. Coastal warehousing lends a mineral, sea spray lift to the smoke. Water is drawn from a private hill loch, the Gearr Abhainn, above the town. Its painted home town gives the unpeated malt its name. A rare, more heavily peated make has appeared under the name Iona, after a neighbouring isle. In dry summers the distillery has paused when its hill loch ran low.

At 50.6%, undiluted, it is rich and deep. A maritime smoke over ripe fruit, and the refill bourbon lends a quiet vanilla. Soft smoke and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. The finish runs smoky, sweet and warm. This is a bold, peated island single malt.