Ledaig 1972 (Connoisseurs Choice) (40% France)

Gordon & MacPhail selected this Ledaig from 1972 and bottled at 40%. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. The distillery was founded in 1798 by John Sinclair, a local kelp merchant, as the Ledaig distillery.

The spirit was distilled from malt peated to around thirty seven parts per million, building the bold, smoky Ledaig style. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, soft oak that lets the peat lead. With no age statement, it shows the sooty, maritime smoke of Ledaig over a fruity sweetness. The cool, damp island air gives a slow, even maturation. 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.

At an approachable 40% it is balanced. Wood smoke, BBQ char and a coastal salt, and honeyed vanilla comes through from the ex-Bourbon. It is bold and coastal, the peat and soot to the fore. It closes long, smoky and briny. This is a heavily peated malt from Mull's only distillery.