Ledaig 1992 BA (Blackadder)

Blackadder selected this Ledaig, an 8 year old island malt from 1992, drawn from cask 121 and bottled at 43%. The outturn was 506 bottles. Ledaig is the peated malt made at Tobermory on Mull, a distillery founded as Ledaig in 1798. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was distilled from malt peated to around thirty seven parts per million, building the bold, smoky Ledaig style. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the smoke to the fore. Still young, it is smoky and briny with a sweet lift. The cool, damp island air gives a slow, even maturation. 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. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar.

At an approachable 43% it is balanced. Wood smoke, BBQ char and a coastal salt, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. 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.