Scotland, Isle of Mull. Distillery operational. Owner: Burn Stewart Distillers, Distell.

Founded in 1798, the Isle of Mull's only distillery was, from 1972 to 1975, known as Ledaig, before being renamed Tobermory. From this now confidently assumed dual identity came two single malts with two completely different profiles. Whilst such a difference can result from different distillation methods, in this case it primarily comes down to whether or not the malt is peated. The Tobermory malt therefore becomes either Ledaig (Mr Hyde) when expressing its heavily peated, mysterious side, or Tobermory (Dr Jekyll) when revealing its more accessible, unpeated and easy-going profile. This, alongside maturations that veer from one extreme (first fill Oloroso) to another (refill bourbon), provides a glimpse of just some of what this multi-faceted distillery has to offer.Whether you prefer Ledaig or Tobermory, one thing is certain, the 1972 vintage aged in a first-fill sherry cask is in a category of its own. Whether in a distillery version or independent bottling, these expressions go through the ceiling when released for sale. Collectors take note!

A Tobermory distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2018, matured for 9 years in a refill bourbon hogshead. This is a limited edition of 323 bottles for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by a group of friends with a particular passion for whisky. The club selects casks whose bottles are then only available to members. The name of the distillery is not mentioned on the label but each distillery is given a number as the malt is bottled. The first cask selected by the SMWS, for example, was Glenfarclas, and it therefore uses the number 1. The second number refers to the number of bottlings from each distillery. The club was sold to Glenmorangie in 2004 and then to a group of investors in 2016.