Ledaig 1995 MI (Moon-Import)

This Ledaig was an independent Moon-Import bottling, a 24 year old island malt from 1995, drawn from cask 133 and bottled at 46.1%. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was distilled from peated malt in kinked copper stills on soft Mull water, giving a sooty, coastal peat smoke over a fruity sweetness. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla under the maritime smoke. Long ageing brings a soft, sweet smoke, dried fruit and a coastal salt. Refill oak lets the peat and brine of Ledaig lead. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar. Burn Stewart revived production in 1993, and Distell bought the distillery in 2013. The stills carry boil bulbs and a kink in the lyne arms, which lifts the reflux.

At a full 46.1% it is intense and layered. Peat smoke, brine and a medicinal note, and the bourbon cask adds vanilla and a gentle honey. A BBQ char and a sea salt lift it. A long, peaty finish smoulders to the end. This is Ledaig, the peated malt of the Isle of Mull.