Ledaig 2005 Sb The Clans Label (Sansibar)

Single malt Ledaig, an independent Sansibar bottling, a 15 year old island malt from 2005 and bottled at 61.2%. Just 282 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. Ledaig, the old name kept for the peated malt, means safe haven in Gaelic.

It was drawn off stills with their S shaped lyne arms, from peated malt, for a heavily peated island spirit. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla under the maritime smoke. Mid age brings a deeper, sweeter smoke and a maritime lift. Long maturation turns fierce young smoke into a rounded, coastal peat. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar. Burn Stewart revived production in 1993, and Distell bought the distillery in 2013. The stills carry boil bulbs and a kink in the lyne arms, which lifts the reflux.

At 61.2%, undiluted, it is rich and deep. A sooty smoke with tar and brine, and honeyed vanilla comes through from the ex-Bourbon. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with sea salt. The finish is deep, tarry and sweet. This is Ledaig's smoky, maritime single malt.