Ledaig 2004 vW (van Wees)

van Wees selected this Ledaig, a 10 year old island malt from 2004, drawn from cask 900174 and bottled at 61.7%. Just 627 bottles were filled. Ledaig, the peated malt of Mull's only distillery, keeps the old name the distillery bore when John Sinclair founded it in 1798. The distillery makes two malts: the unpeated Tobermory and the peated Ledaig.

It was run through the distillery's boil ball stills from peated barley, to build the medicinal, briny Ledaig character. A sherry cask wrapped the smoke in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Younger here, the peat runs bold over a sweet, fruity core. Peat smoke and active oak settle together over the years, the smoke softening as the fruit deepens. Both malts feed the Scottish Leader and Black Bottle blends as well as single malt. The distillery was refurbished and its stills renewed between 2017 and 2019. Mull's maritime climate works into the maturing casks over the years.

At 61.7%, undiluted, it is rich and deep. Soot, sea salt and a sweet fruit, and raisin and a nutty sherry depth build. Beneath the smoke run brine, tar and a sweet fruit. It closes long, smoky and briny. This is the peated island malt of Mull.