Ledaig 2009 (Provenance)

From Douglas Laing comes this Ledaig, a 10 year old from 2009, drawn from cask DL 14016 and bottled at 46%. 411 bottles in all. Made on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig is the heavily peated malt of the island's only distillery. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was run through the distillery's boil ball stills from peated barley, to build the medicinal, briny Ledaig character. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, soft oak that lets the peat lead. Younger here, the peat runs bold over a sweet, fruity core. The phenols soften with age into a gentle, sweet wood smoke. 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. The distillery was refurbished and its stills renewed between 2017 and 2019.

At 46% it is soft and deep. Soot, sea salt and a sweet fruit, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. Beneath the smoke run brine, tar and a sweet fruit. It finishes smoky, salty and warming. This is the peated island malt of Mull.