Ledaig 2011 Cuvée No. 6 (Signatory)

This is a Ledaig, drawn and bottled by Signatory Vintage matured to 9 year old from 2011 and bottled at 60.9%. Only 672 bottles were released. Made on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig is the heavily peated malt of the island's only distillery. Its history is famously broken, with long silences; the buildings once held holiday lets and stored cheese.

Distilled from peated malt in kinked copper stills on soft Mull water, giving a sooty, coastal peat smoke over a fruity sweetness. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla under the maritime smoke. At this age the smoke is fierce and ashy, the brine and medicinal note sharp. A patient maturation suits the bold, smoky Ledaig character. 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. Burn Stewart revived production in 1993, and Distell bought the distillery in 2013.

Undiluted at 60.9%, it is powerful. Peat smoke, brine and a medicinal note, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. A BBQ char and a sea salt lift it. Soot and brine see out a long finish. This is Ledaig, the peated malt of the Isle of Mull.