Ledaig - 2000s

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.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.