Ledaig 2009 HiSp (Hidden Spirits)

Hidden Spirits bottled this Ledaig, a 16 year old release from 2009, drawn from cask TB926-L and bottled at 53.1%. Ledaig is the peated malt made at Tobermory on Mull, a distillery founded as Ledaig in 1798. The distillery was founded in 1798 by John Sinclair, a local kelp merchant, as the Ledaig distillery.

The spirit was distilled from malt peated to around thirty seven parts per million, building the bold, smoky Ledaig style. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, vanilla beneath the soot. By this age the peat rounds into a sweeter, coastal smoke. The heavily peated spirit holds its smoke well across long maturation. 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.

At a full 53.1% it is intense and layered. Wood smoke, BBQ char and a coastal salt, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. It is bold and coastal, the peat and soot to the fore. The finish runs smoky, sweet and warm. This is a heavily peated malt from Mull's only distillery.