Ledaig 1995 YoSp (Young Spirits)

From Young Spirits comes this Ledaig, a 27 year old island malt from 1995, drawn from cask 147 and bottled at 47.2%. Just 239 bottles were filled. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. Water comes from the Gearr Abhainn, a private hill loch above the town of Tobermory.

The spirit was distilled from malt peated to around thirty seven parts per million, building the bold, smoky Ledaig style. A sherry cask wrapped the smoke in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Beyond twenty years the smoke turns gentle and sweet, soot and brine over deep fruit and wax. The heavily peated spirit holds its smoke well across long maturation. 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.

Undiluted at 47.2%, it is powerful. Wood smoke, BBQ char and a coastal salt, and the Oloroso gives dried fruit and a toasted nuttiness. It is bold and coastal, the peat and soot to the fore. It finishes smoky, salty and warming. This is a heavily peated malt from Mull's only distillery.