Ledaig 2011 MM (Murray McDavid)

This Ledaig was chosen and bottled by Murray McDavid, a 12 year old island malt from 2011, drawn from cask 2301853 and bottled at 56.7%. Just 83 bottles were filled. Ledaig, the peated malt of Mull's only distillery, keeps the old name the distillery bore when John Sinclair founded it in 1798. The stills carry boil bulbs and an S shaped kink in the lyne arms, which raises reflux.

Made in the kinked copper stills from peated barley, for a smoky, tarry make with a sweet core. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the smoke to the fore. Around the mid teens the smoke knits with dried fruit and a sea salt. Active casks frame the smoke without smothering the fruit beneath. 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 hearty 56.7% it carries real weight. Peat, iodine and a fruity sweetness, and the oak lends vanilla and a soft sweetness. A sweet fruit and a medicinal note sit under the smoke. A long, peaty finish smoulders to the end. This is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery.