Ledaig Batch 12 (TBWC)

Bottled by That Boutique-y Whisky Company, this Ledaig, a 17 year old island malt and bottled at 48.1%. Just 744 bottles were filled. Ledaig is the heavily peated single malt of Tobermory distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Mull, founded in 1798. 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. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, soft oak that lets the peat lead. Past a decade the smoke softens, the soot and brine settling over ripe fruit. Refill oak lets the peat and brine of Ledaig lead. 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.

At cask strength 48.1% it is muscular. Peat smoke, brine and a medicinal note, and the bourbon cask adds vanilla and a gentle honey. A BBQ char and a sea salt lift it. A long, ashy finish ends on sea salt. This is Ledaig, the peated malt of the Isle of Mull.