Ledaig 1997 LEG (Le Gus’t)

Le Gus't bottled this Ledaig matured to 22 year old from 1997, drawn from cask LG 281 and bottled at 52.4%. The outturn was 89 bottles. Made on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig is the heavily peated malt of the island's only distillery. Its history is famously broken, with long silences; the buildings once held holiday lets and stored cheese.

Run through the distillery's boil ball stills from peated barley, to build the medicinal, briny Ledaig character. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, soft oak that lets the peat lead. Past twenty years the peat is a soft whisper over a deep, fruity malt. The phenols soften with age into a gentle, sweet wood smoke. Mull's maritime climate works into the maturing casks over the years. 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.

At cask strength 52.4% it is muscular. Soot, sea salt and a sweet fruit, and vanilla and a soft oak come from the bourbon wood. Beneath the smoke run brine, tar and a sweet fruit. The finish runs smoky, sweet and warm. This is the peated island malt of Mull.