Tobermory 28 Years Old 1995 Mission Gold (Murray McDavid)

This is a Tobermory, chosen and bottled by Murray McDavid, a 28 year old from 1995 and bottled at 49.8%. A release of 573 bottles. Tobermory, the unpeated malt of the Isle of Mull, comes from one of Scotland's oldest distilleries. The distillery makes two malts: the unpeated Tobermory and the peated Ledaig.

It was run through the distillery's boil ball stills, to build a nutty, waxy, fruity character. A wine cask held it, layering fruit over the oily malt. Very old Tobermory turns profound, waxy and tropical yet still fruity. The unpeated make leans on the cask, the wood adding much of the colour and flavour. Tobermory has distilled in the island's harbour town since 1798. 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 49.8%, it is intense. A waxy, oily fruitiness, and the wine cask lends red berry and a dry spice. The texture is oily and waxy, the fruit threaded through. Wax and ripe fruit see out a long finish. This is the waxy, fruity malt of Mull.