Ledaig 18 Years Old ChWh (Chorlton Whisky)

This is a Ledaig, released by Chorlton Whisky, an 18 year old island malt and bottled at 56.3%. Just 239 bottles were filled. Ledaig is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. Water comes from the Gearr Abhainn, a private hill loch above the town of Tobermory.

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. Past a decade the smoke softens, the soot and brine settling over ripe fruit. Sherry wood and peat smoke twine together, dried fruit meeting soot. A rare, more heavily peated make has appeared under the name Iona, after a neighbouring isle. In dry summers the distillery has paused when its hill loch ran low. The distillery sits at the head of the bay, beneath a steep wooded hill.

At a full 56.3% it is intense and layered. Peat, iodine and a fruity sweetness, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. 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.