Tobermory 15 Years Old 1996 (Authentic Collection)

A Tobermory single malt, selected and bottled by Cadenhead's, aged 15 year old from 1996 and bottled at 53.7%. Just 246 bottles were filled. Tobermory, the unpeated malt of the Isle of Mull, comes from one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. The distillery was founded in 1798 by John Sinclair, a local kelp merchant, as the Ledaig distillery.

The spirit was distilled from unpeated malt in kinked copper stills on soft Mull water, giving the oily, fruity island make. It was matured in ex-Bourbon oak, lending vanilla and honey. Around the mid teens the malt gains a fuller, waxier body. A patient maturation suits the oily, fruity Tobermory 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.7%, it is intense. Orchard fruit, wax and a nutty note, and ex-Bourbon oak gives vanilla and a light sweetness. A baked apple and a nutty note lift it. Wax and ripe fruit see out a long finish. This is Tobermory, the unpeated malt of the Isle of Mull.