Ledaig 2007 ElD (Elixir)

From Elixir Distillers comes this Ledaig, aged 16 year old from 2007, drawn from cask 10 and bottled at 51.4%. 659 bottles in all. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. Ledaig, the old name kept for the peated malt, means safe haven in Gaelic.

It was worked through high reflux stills from peated malt, for the smoky, maritime spirit Ledaig is known for. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla under the maritime smoke. Around the mid teens the smoke knits with dried fruit and a sea salt. Coastal warehousing lends a mineral, sea spray lift to the smoke. 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. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar.

Undiluted at 51.4%, it is powerful. A maritime smoke over ripe fruit, and the ex-Bourbon lends vanilla and a soft honey. Soft smoke and brine sit behind the cask sweetness. It finishes smoky, salty and warming. This is a bold, peated island single malt.