Ledaig 2004 (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage selected this Ledaig, a 10 year old release from 2004, drawn from cask 900177 and bottled at 62.3%. Just 599 bottles were filled. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. It is one of Scotland's oldest distilleries, and the only one on its island.

It was worked through high reflux stills from peated malt, for the smoky, maritime spirit Ledaig is known for. A sherry butt held it, sherry and smoke twining together. Younger here, the peat runs bold over a sweet, fruity core. Years in oak round the smoke while the medicinal, tarry notes mellow. 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. Its painted home town gives the unpeated malt its name.

Undiluted at 62.3%, it is powerful. A maritime smoke over ripe fruit, and the Oloroso adds figgy fruit and a warm nuttiness. Soft smoke and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It closes long, smoky and briny. This is a bold, peated island single malt.