Ledaig 2008 (Signatory)

This is a Ledaig, drawn and bottled by Signatory Vintage, a 7 year old from 2008, drawn from cask 700544 + 700548 and bottled at 46%. Ledaig, the peated malt of Mull's only distillery, keeps the old name the distillery bore when John Sinclair founded it in 1798. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was made in the kinked copper stills from peated barley, for a smoky, tarry make with a sweet core. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, vanilla beneath the soot. At this age the smoke is fierce and ashy, the brine and medicinal note sharp. Sherry wood and peat smoke twine together, dried fruit meeting soot. Mull's maritime climate works into the maturing casks over the years. 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.

At 46% it is supple and rich. Peat, iodine and a fruity sweetness, and the bourbon cask adds vanilla and a gentle honey. A sweet fruit and a medicinal note sit under the smoke. Soot and brine see out a long finish. This is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery.