Ledaig 2010 (Signatory) (51.7%)

Single malt Ledaig, released by Signatory Vintage, a 7 year old release from 2010, drawn from cask 700394 and bottled at 51.7%. A release of 246 bottles. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded 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. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, soft oak that lets the peat lead. At this age the smoke is fierce and ashy, the brine and medicinal note sharp. Long maturation turns fierce young smoke into a rounded, coastal peat. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 51.7%, it is intense. A sooty smoke with tar and brine, and the ex-Bourbon lends vanilla and a soft honey. 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.