Ledaig 2008 HSC Masters Of Magic (High Spirits’ Collection)

This Ledaig was chosen and bottled by High Spirits' Collection matured to 11 year old from 2008 and bottled at 46%. 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 distilled from peated malt in kinked copper stills on soft Mull water, giving a sooty, coastal peat smoke over a fruity sweetness. It was matured in ex-Bourbon oak, a vanilla sweetness beneath the smoke. Younger here, the peat runs bold over a sweet, fruity core. Refill oak lets the peat and brine of Ledaig lead. A rare, more heavily peated make has appeared under the name Iona, after a neighbouring isle. In dry summers the distillery has paused when its hill loch ran low. The distillery sits at the head of the bay, beneath a steep wooded hill. Both malts feed the Scottish Leader and Black Bottle blends as well as single malt.

At 46% it is smooth and full. Peat smoke, brine and a medicinal note, and honeyed vanilla comes through from the ex-Bourbon. A BBQ char and a sea salt lift it. A long, peaty finish smoulders to the end. This is Ledaig, the peated malt of the Isle of Mull.