Have just tried ... Tobermory 10 years old

Tobermory is the only distillery on the island of Mull, which lies a short ferry ride from the west Highland coast of Scotland. It was founded in 1798, making it one of Scotland's oldest distilleries and is named after the small town of Tobermory on the island. Tobermory is small and compact with an annual production capacity of one million litres and is currently owned by Burn Stewart Distillers. The whisky produced there is popular with blenders and this means that only around 15% of Tobermory's whisky is released as single malt. The most popular blended whisky that uses Tobermory is Scottish Leader.

The distillery's original name was Ledaig (pronounced ley-jeg and translating as 'safe harbour' from Gaelic). The history of the distillery is littered with periods of closure for one reason or another, with the two most significant being 1837-1878 and then 1930-1972. Following another sporadic period of production, the Tobermory Distillers Ltd. was set up in 1979 and they changed the distillery's name from Ledaig to Tobermory. However, they were soon in financial trouble and sold off some of the outbuildings and warehouses to developers and these were converted to apartments. Burn Stewart then took control in 1993, buying the distillery and all the old maturing whisky stock.

Tobermory produce three different styles of single malt whisky at the distillery. The majority is produced in the unpeated style and is called Tobermory. There is also a lightly peated version which is sold as Ledaig and a heavily peated version called Iona (named after a small island that neighbours Mull and the whisky is only available from the distillery shop). This 10 years old is available in larger supermarkets and specialist whisky retailers and can be priced anywhere between £20-25 (sometimes even cheaper if one of the big supermarket chains have it on promotion). It forms part of the Tobermory core range which also includes two more limited editions at 15 and 32 years old.

The colour of this Tobermory 10 years old is golden yellow with an interesting nose that changes drastically with time. First there is a combination of cereal grains (reminiscent of oatmeal or porridge oats) with some dried fruit (think of sultanas) and some honey and toffee. Then when revisiting after five minutes or so, it has a sort of damp musty smell (the nearest thing to think of is a dusty old book) and the fruitiness has turned in to more like stewed or overcooked fruit (imagine pears and apples here). On the palate a similar thing occurs. There is a pleasant hit of sweet grain, caramel and honey mixing with a distinct salty tang (think of brine), a hint of licquorice (maybe?) and a nutty note (imagine a creamy nut like almond or hazelnut). It feels reasonably full bodied and creamy in the mouth but then the flavours suddenly become much lighter and die away dramatically leaving a lot of alcohol spirit and not much else. It falls totally flat, which is disappointing as the initial nose and palate are quite promising. This happens almost before you realise it, even when tasted a couple of times afterwards, and it means the finish is pretty much non existent leaving a drying woody spirity feel in your mouth. This whisky is quite 'beginner unfriendly' and while not the worst whisky around, it is certainly not the best.

New releases ... Ledaig 10 years old

This is a sneak preview! A new release that is coming soon (in May sometime). We had a sample sent to the shop and I had to try. This new Ledaig (pronounced ley-chuck) 10 years old will be replacing the Ledaig Original that is currently available. This Ledaig Original is priced around £16 and offers good value for that money, however the new one has been re-branded and will be priced around £10 higher. Ledaig is not a distillery itself but is produced by Tobermory, the only distillery on the island of Mull which lies just off the west Highland coast. Tobermory is unpeated but they name their peated, smoky whiskies as Ledaig, which is the old name of the distillery.

The colour is very light and the nose has a lot of perfume. It is a mix of a slight fake meaty smokiness (reminding me of smoky bacon crisps) and damp wet moss and earth. There was something slightly unpleasant and musty in there, but I'm not quite sure what. It is more pleasant on the palate with lots of sweet smokiness (think of pipe tobacco smoke) combined with a fresh vegetal, grassy flavour. This contrasts the meatiness that is present on the nose. However, there is a hint of something acrid, like burnt sugar, in there also. The finish is short and not very complex for a smoky whisky. I have to be honest and say that I was slightly disappointed by this new release. I am not sure about how well it will stand up against other smoky whiskies that will be in the same £25-30 price bracket (ie - Ardbeg 10 years old, Laphroaig 10 years old and Bowmore 12 years old).