Tobermory 20 Years Old 1994 (Sansibar)

Bottled by Sansibar, this Tobermory, a 20 year old island malt from 1994 and bottled at 49.6%. Just 124 bottles were filled. Tobermory is the fruity, unpeated side of the only distillery on the Isle of Mull. Burn Stewart revived the distillery in 1993, and Distell of South Africa bought it in 2013.

The spirit was run through the distillery's boil ball stills, to build a nutty, waxy, fruity character. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak for a honeyed sweetness. Long ageing brings a deeper waxy, fruity character and a mellow oak. The waxy, oily spirit takes on cask character slowly and holds its texture well. 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. In dry summers the distillery has paused when its hill loch ran low. The distillery sits at the head of the bay, beneath a steep wooded hill.

At a full 49.6% it is intense and layered. A waxy, oily fruitiness, and vanilla and a soft oak come from the bourbon wood. The texture is oily and waxy, the fruit threaded through. A long, oily finish ends on orchard fruit. This is the waxy, fruity malt of Mull.