30/05/2019 When in Tobermory, do as the Tobermorians do

Mull, once home to nineteen illicit stills, only ever counted one legal distillery: Tobermory. It also went by the name Ledaig, which is now the name of the peated make from Tobermory. Said peated make has been made under that name since 1972.

The Tobermory museum is well worth a visit, btw

Frustratingly, the distillery is shut for refurbishment/extension for my third visit in a row. No tour, then.

Ledaig 6yo 1972/1979 (70° Proof, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur's Choice): this is then one of the first distillation runs, bottled at a very early age indeed -- in fact, it might even be the youngest Ledaig distilled in 1972. All these black label Connoisseur's Choice at 70° Proof were bottled in 1979. Nose: straight from the bottle, it has remotely-smoky orange-blossom water and rose water, as well as candied banana. After that, the most refined smoke wraps orchard fruit aplenty -- pear, apple, quince, peach. Nothing extravagantly boisterous -- it is much refined. All sorts of shells arrive at second sniff; whelks, cockles, queenies, barnacles, some soot and charcoal, fishing nets -- woah! Mouth: soft, not weak, with slightly-more-affirmed soot and charcoal that fail to completely hide crisp apple and lemon juice. Ripe quince and ripe peach also come through, alongside muddy hay. Orange blossom is there too, as well as mildly-bitter pith, left on the stove to dry. Finish: the dilution can unfortunately be felt, at this stage. It still is a cracking dram, with soot, burnt wood, caramelised apples and pears, and char-grilled grapefruit, as well as blackened hay and scorched earth. The impression at the death is that of honey-coated orange blossom and shrimp crackers. Amazing if fragile dram. Do not let it breathe too long, as the fruity tones quickly lose steam. 9/10 (Thanks for the opportunity, Savoureur)

Tobermory 42yo (47.7%, OB, Sherry Casks, 650b, b.2016): they had a funny scheme at the distillery shop, whereby one pays a modest amount for a sample pack of Tobermory/Ledaig and one of the packs (only one in thirty or so) contains this. I had no luck choosing, so I bought this on its own for a much higher price. Where else was I going to have a chance, eh? Nose: very concentrated coffee grounds, leathery sherry, roasted oats, black tea, Marmite on toast. The cask influence is enormous, leaving (almost) nothing of the distillate to reach one's nostrils. In terms of sherry-cask maturation, though, it is great. I can imagine it seducing many German enthusiasts. Melted chocolate, roasted cocoa beans, dark tobacco, Oloroso-sherry-soaked old staves, warm-but-unlit cigars -- this is good! Mouth: strong and spicy, with quite a lot of tannins, chilli-Marmite butter, galangal shavings, warm leather and coffee. It is borderline drying, but walks the straight and narrow. Black tea, coating Oloroso, chewing tobacco. Finish: super-dark chocolate, bitter, but again, on the right side of bitter. Gunpowdered black tea, chilli-infused molasses, thick Marmite, yeast extract. The chocolate comes in many waves, and it is quite superb, accompanying dark pipe tobacco and dried tea leaves. This is clearly very strongly cask-driven and will not please everyone. For my taste, though, it is never plankish. It is not necessarily my favourite profile, hence why it will not score higher, but it is undeniably a good whisky. And what a treat to have a chance to sample it! 8/10

I had another one in mind, but not today.