Tobermory 10 Year Old Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2007) 70cl

Tobermory 10 Year Old Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2007) 70cl

A 2007 of the loved Island of Mull single Malt Tobermory

The Tobermory Distillery, on the island of Mull, sits on the waterfront in the picturesque, and colourful, town of the same name (although those of you with young children may know it better as “Balamory”). Like so many others, the distillery, since its founding in 1798, has gone through several periods of closure, with this down-time accounting for nearly as much of its life as its periods of production have.

In 1993, the distillery was purchased by Burn Stewart Distillers, who also own Bunnahabhain and Deanston. Under their guiding hand, the distillery is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance, eschewing chill filtration and caramel colouring, along with introducing a higher standard strength of 46.3% ABV. This, in conjunction with some intriguing wine cask finishes, and the success of their peated Ledaig range (pronounced led-chig ), has allowed the company to reinvest in the distillery, in order to increase output. Good news for everyone.

About Tobermory

Mull's only Scotch whisky distillery produces both peated an unpeated whisky for use in the Black Bottle and Scottish Leader blends, as well as for Ledaig and Tobermory single malts.

It is likely that in its earliest incarnation Ledaig was a peated malt, but in more recent times both peated and unpeated whisky has been made and bottled as both Ledaig and Tobermory. Thankfully, this has now been resolved with Ledaig now only being used for the heavily-peated variant. Equal amounts of both styles are currently being made.

The fermentation time is relatively short, but it is the unusually shaped stills which lie at the heart of the Tobermory style. They have both boil bulbs and a strange S-shaped kink in their lyne arms, all of which increases reflux.

Mull’s capital may have been built by the Stevensons of Oban [see Oban], but Tobermory’s distillery has had a more chequered career than its mainland relative and with considerably more unusual owners.

It was established, as Ledaig, in 1798 by John Sinclair but like many small sites, the business foundered and it seems to have been silent between 1837 until 1878 when, after a succession of owners, it was finally brought within the DCL estate in 1916. It continued to produce until 1930 when it fell silent for over four decades.

A belated member of a group of old distilleries which were recommissioned in the post-war whisky boom, it was brought back in 1972 by a somewhat unusual joint venture between a Liverpool shipping company, Sherry producer Pedro Domecq and “Panamanian interests”. This unusual arrangement only lasted for three years, although the new owners renovated the distillery and increased capacity.

A short further period of silence ended when a property firm based in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire bought it with the intention of converting some of the buildings to holiday accommodation. Others were used as a facility for storing cheese. It closed again in 1982 for 11 years when its current owner, Burn Stewart (now part of South African giant Distell), purchased it.

In January 2017 Distell announced a major refurbishment plan for the distillery, which would force its closure for two years from 31 March. However, Tobermory's visitor centre would remain open throughout the period.

40% ABV

70cl