Ledaig 1992 (Small Batch)

From Cadenhead's comes this Ledaig, a 21 year old from 1992 and bottled at 53.6%. 534 bottles in all. Ledaig is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was worked through high reflux stills from peated malt, for the smoky, maritime spirit Ledaig is known for. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the smoke to the fore. Beyond twenty years the smoke turns gentle and sweet, soot and brine over deep fruit and wax. Coastal warehousing lends a mineral, sea spray lift to the smoke. Its painted home town gives the unpeated malt its name. 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 hearty 53.6% it carries real weight. A maritime smoke over ripe fruit, and the bourbon cask adds vanilla and a gentle honey. Soft smoke and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It finishes smoky, salty and warming. This is a bold, peated island single malt.