Ledaig 42 Year Old Dusgadh

Ledaig 42 Years Old “Dùsgadh” is more than a special Whisky … it’s a story unto itself of glorious perfection.

Tobermory distillery is situated on the Scottish island of Mull, in the village of Tobermory. The distillery, formerly known as Ledaig, is the only distillery on the island. It was founded in 1798 by John Sinclair, has changed hands several times, and undergone a number of closure periods.

These days the brand name ‘Ledaig’ is used for all their lightly peated malt Whisky, whereas the unpeated Whisky is sold as Tobermory. While most of the distilleries in the Island region mature their Whiskies on the islands themselves, Ledaig matures them on the Mainland.

When the world entered the dark time of Prohibition, the result was more than unhappy consumers. It created a depression in the spirits business. The noble distillery of Ledaig was mothballed in 1930. It was revived in 1972 with new stills. Ledaig 42 Years Old is pulled from that very first run in those brand new stills in 1972. Thus … the name of this most special of editions is Dùsgadh—Gaelic for “Awakening.”

It is a shame to speak too much about packaging when discussing such a fine, limited treasure as this … but we must. You see, they have just retired those 1972 stills, and the copper cladding on the bottles comes directly from those old stills. When you only produce 500 bottles you can do things like that. But there is more! In that lovely box is a small copper card that, when registered, allows you to receive a bottle of Ledaig Déanta—another special release due in ten years time. OK … that’s pretty cool, right?

Forty-two years of glorious sleep … a Highland nap, first in a series of hogsheads and butts. Then, in 2001 master distiller Ian Macmillan moved the Whisky into first-fill Gonzalez Byass Sherry casks for another fifteen years. The classic smoky dram of Ledaig is mellowed and layered to glorious perfection.