Ledaig 1973-1996 - 22 Year Old - Cadenheads - Miniature

Ledaig was the original name of the distillery in Tobermory village on the Isle of Mull, but the distillery was rechristened as Tobermory in 1979 during a troubled period of sporadic production that lasted until Burn Stewart purchased the distillery in 1993. The 1974 vintage of Ledaig is considered the distillery's finest and is highly sought after at auction.

Nowadays, Tobermory distillery produces both the Ledaig (peated) and Tobermory (unpeated) single malt spirits in a 50/50 ratio. Ledaig was officially relaunched as a 10-year-old in 2007, but the brand really took off in 2010 after a pair of wildly successful sherry casks of rubbery, farmhouse-tinged Ledaig 2005 were bottled at cask strength by Berry Bros & Rudd. Ledaig’s quirky flavours and occasionally brutal exuberance have spawned a committed cult following.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.