Tobermory 10 Years Old 2008 (Battlehill Scotch Whisky Co.)

Bottled by Battlehill Scotch Whisky Co, this Tobermory, aged 10 year old from 2008 and bottled at 46%. Tobermory is the unpeated single malt of Mull's only distillery, founded in 1798 in the island's painted harbour town. It is one of Scotland's oldest distilleries, and the only one on its island.

It was run through the distillery's boil ball stills, to build a nutty, waxy, fruity character. It was matured in ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and honey. At this age the spirit is fresh and fruity, the wax and a green note bright. The waxy, oily spirit takes on cask character slowly and holds its texture well. 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. Water is drawn from a private hill loch, the Gearr Abhainn, above the town. Its painted home town gives the unpeated malt its name. A rare, more heavily peated make has appeared under the name Iona, after a neighbouring isle.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A waxy, oily fruitiness, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. Beneath it run orchard fruit, wax and a soft nut. It closes long, waxy and fruity. This is the waxy, fruity malt of Mull.