Ledaig 2009 MM Benchmark (Murray McDavid) (51.3%)

Bottled by Murray McDavid, this Ledaig matured to 15 year old from 2009 and bottled at 51.3%. The outturn was 1448 bottles. Ledaig is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. It is one of Scotland's oldest distilleries, and the only one on its island.

It was distilled from peated malt in kinked copper stills on soft Mull water, giving a sooty, coastal peat smoke over a fruity sweetness. A wine cask laid red fruit over the peat smoke. Around the mid teens the smoke knits with dried fruit and a sea salt. Refill oak lets the peat and brine of Ledaig lead. It is one of the oldest commercial distilleries in Scotland still working. Tobermory has distilled in the island's harbour town since 1798. The town of Tobermory was laid out by the British Fisheries Society a decade before the distillery came. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar.

At a full 51.3% it is intense and layered. Peat smoke, brine and a medicinal note, and the Rum cask brings brown sugar and a tropical lift. A BBQ char and a sea salt lift it. A long, ashy finish ends on sea salt. This is Ledaig, the peated malt of the Isle of Mull.