Tobermory is the distillery in the town of Tobermory on Mull, founded in 1798 by kelp merchant John Sinclair as Ledaig, Gaelic for 'safe haven'.1,2,3 It closed for about 40 years from 1837, and again from 1930 to 1972.2,3,4 It makes 2 single malts, unpeated Tobermory and heavily peated Ledaig.4,5,6CVH Spirits has owned it since 2023.7,8,9
Very good review score, 88 out of 100Very good88/100
Rich and complex, with stewed apples, caramel, red grapes, plums and baking spices, though French oak brings a slightly wine-driven, nervous edge.
baked apple
baking spices
blackberry
caramel
+24 more
By Ruben
Producing, 1798–1837
Silent, 1837–1878
Producing, 1878–1930
Silent, 1930–1972
Producing, 1972–1975
Silent, 1975–1979
Producing, 1979–1982
Silent, 1982–1989
Producing, 1989–2017
Silent, 2017–2019
Producing, 2019–today
Name
Ledaig, 1798–1979
Tobermory, 1979–today
1798185019001950Today
Ledaig on Mull
Sinclair had applied in April 1797 for 57 acres south of the harbour, to build houses and a distillery.1,2,3 The distillery was officially licensed in 1823.4,10,11 It closed in 1837 and stayed silent for about 40 years.3,4,5
Sources disagree: when it opened. This page uses 1798.
Dr Neil M'Nab Campbell bought it in 1876 and fitted it out with equipment from James and Thomas Dale of Townsend Foundry.3,4 Production started again in 1878.3,4,6 John and Alexander Mackill of Glasgow, Campbell's agents since 1879, bought it in 1883 for £9,300.3,4,11 In 1885 its annual output was 62,000 gallons, and the Mackill Brothers owned it when Alfred Barnard visited.11,12 After the Mackills went bankrupt, the Glasgow firm John Hopkins & Co. Ltd. bought it in 1888.3,4
Four decades silent
1930–1972
Production stopped in 1930, and the buildings later served as a sailors' canteen, a power station and briefly a naval base in World War Two.4,5,11 In 1936 John McLean of Edinburgh bought the silent site, and its whisky moved to bonded warehouses in Campbeltown.3,11 In 1971 its late 19th-century bonded warehouse was listed Category B, which gives legal protection to buildings of special architectural or historic interest.13
Sources disagree: when it closed. This page uses 1930.
1930: ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia), Whisky Magazine, The Spirits Business4,5,6
1936: Grace's Guide to British Industrial History11
Comebacks and closures
In 1972 a Liverpool shipping company, sherry producer Pedro Domecq and 'Panamanian interests' formed Ledaig Distillery (Tobermory) Ltd.4,10 It reopened under its original name, Ledaig, with a new pair of stills and more capacity.3,4,11 The company went bankrupt, and the site closed again in 1975.4,5 In 1979 the Kirkleavington Property Company bought it, and later sold off its only warehouse for conversion into apartments.2,3,10 The new owners renamed it Tobermory and restarted production that year.3,4
Next: Comebacks and closures, Burn Stewart and two styles, Refit and a new owner, How it makes its spirit
Burn Stewart Distillers bought the silent distillery in 1993 for £600,000, plus £200,000 for its remaining stock.2,10,11 In 1996 Burn Stewart introduced a heavily peated spirit under the Ledaig name, and production came to be split 50/50 between the 2 styles.4,5,6 CL Financial of Trinidad bought Burn Stewart Distillers in 2002.3,4,14 In 2007 a former tun room became a small warehouse, so some of the spirit could mature on Mull.5 Drought halted production in the dry summer of 2012, and again in 2013 until rain refilled the loch that supplies it.3,15 South Africa's Distell Group bought Burn Stewart Distillers for £160 million in 2013.3,4,11 By 2016 Distell International used Tobermory and Ledaig spirit in its Scottish Leader and Black Bottle blends.3,4,5
Sources disagree: when Burn Stewart Distillers took over. This page uses 1993.
1993: ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia), Grace's Guide to British Industrial History4,10,11,14
Distell stopped production in 2017 for a two-year refit, while the visitor centre stayed open.16,17,18 Reports in 2019 had production returning after work that replaced the roofs, all 4 washbacks and 2 stills.19,20,21 The new stills have replaceable joints instead of welded ones, but they do not change how the whisky is distilled.19,20,21 In 2021 Distell named Brendan McCarron master distiller for its Scotch whiskies, including Tobermory.22 Cara Gilbert, 27, became distillery manager in 2021, when the site made more than one million litres of whisky and gin a year.23 After Heineken bought Distell Group in 2023, Remgro kept Distell's Capevin Holdings business and rebranded it CVH Spirits.7,8,9
Sources disagree: when it reopened. This page uses 2019.
Its water comes from a private loch near the Mishnish lochs.3,4,24 It buys malt from various suppliers.4,6 Malt for Tobermory is peated to at most 2ppm, and malt for Ledaig to at least 35ppm.4,5,6 It ferments in 4 wooden washbacks.3,4,5 Fermentation lasts 50 to 100 hours.4,5 It runs 2 wash stills and 2 spirit stills.3,5 Steam heats the stills, and shell and tube condensers cool the vapour.4 The stills have boil bulbs and an S-shaped kink in their lyne arms, all of which increases reflux.4 It can make 850,000 litres of alcohol a year.4,5
