Ledaig 2010 Orc (Orcines)

Bottled by Orcines, this Ledaig, a 10 year old release from 2010, drawn from cask 48 and bottled at 46%. Only 786 bottles were released. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. The single malts are bottled without chill filtration at 46.3 percent or higher.

Drawn off stills with their S shaped lyne arms, from peated malt, for a heavily peated island spirit. Maturation in sherry laid dried fruit over the peat. At this age the smoke is fierce and ashy, the brine and medicinal note sharp. Sea air works into the island maturation, lending Ledaig its briny, coastal edge. The distillery's history is broken by long silences; its buildings once stored a local cheddar. Burn Stewart revived production in 1993, and Distell bought the distillery in 2013. The stills carry boil bulbs and a kink in the lyne arms, which lifts the reflux.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A sooty smoke with tar and brine, and the Oloroso adds figgy fruit and a warm nuttiness. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with sea salt. A long, ashy finish ends on sea salt. This is Ledaig's smoky, maritime single malt.