Ledaig 1997 Private Stock (Douglas Laing)

Single malt Ledaig, selected and bottled by Douglas Laing, a 21 year old from 1997 and bottled at 51%. 84 bottles in all. Made on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig is the heavily peated malt of the island's only distillery. Water comes from the Gearr Abhainn, a private hill loch above the town of Tobermory.

The spirit was made in the kinked copper stills from peated barley, for a smoky, tarry make with a sweet core. A refill bourbon cask held it, keeping the smoke to the fore. Past twenty years the peat is a soft whisper over a deep, fruity malt. Sherry wood and peat smoke twine together, dried fruit meeting soot. 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. Water is drawn from a private hill loch, the Gearr Abhainn, above the town.

Bottled at a cask strength 51%, it is intense. Peat, iodine and a fruity sweetness, and the refill bourbon lends a quiet vanilla. A sweet fruit and a medicinal note sit under the smoke. The finish is deep, tarry and sweet. This is the smoky side of Tobermory distillery.