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Tobermory Distillery

Located in the heart of the Isle of Mull's capital, Tobermory Distillery, established in 1798, the original and only distillery on the island and one of the oldest commercial distilleries in Scotland.

Established in 1798, nestling in the heart of Tobermory itself, we are the only distillery on the Isle of Mull and one of the oldest commercial distilleries in Scotland. We are unique for producing two different, but alluring, single malts : the fruity, unpeated Tobermory and the more robust and smoky Ledaig.   Our single malt very much captures the spirit of our beautiful island and we are open all year to welcome visitors to share how we produce our whisky and highlight the distinct drams that we distill.  Come along and take a tour and do read our reviews on TripAdvisor .  

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Great tour by great people - Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre

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• Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre

Great tour by great people

Brilliant tour by the wonderful Josephine. Went with my Dad and felt really welcome by everyone whilst there. It was a fascinating tour and look back at the history of the distillery. The whiskey was amazing as well. Would highly recommend it if visiting.

Turned up last minute and luckily was able to grab two places for the tour. A lovely little distillery with some amazing history behind it. Our guide Kirsty (Jackie Daniels) was next level and it was such a pleasure to be educated and guided by someone with such an exceptional knowledge and genuine passion. A much more relaxed and intimate distillery tour compared to others and this is what made it such a great experience.

On a rainy day in Tobermory you can’t go wrong with a gin experience at the distillery. Our guide was Kirsty who was not only great fun but also gave us a lot of interesting information about the three gins. And they are excellent gins too!

Thanks to Josephine for a great tour last week. I learned a lot about whisky, how it is made and why I like what I like ! I also learned that I love Tobermory Whisky 😍😍😍 Located in Tobermory , in my opinion this trip is suited to both the whisky connoisseur or even a novice or someone that thought they didnt like Whisky. The tour is very personal highly informative and "up close". It is also excellent value including a couple of "wee drams" afterwards - if you are a more dedicated whisky fan you can extend the tasting to try some rarer and more exotic drams at extra cost).

This is the second time we've been to this distillery and it's over of our favorites. Everyone is friendly and really takes care of you. The location is lovely and the distillery is full of interesting history. We've taken the tour and had tastings of both the scotch and gin and everything is delicious!

Nice and compact timing wise, interesting to get in amongst the brewery and Tour Guide Abbie was brilliant. The best bit was the takeaway drams for being a designated driver - that made the experience for me in a number of ways.

Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre

Top ways to experience Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre and nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

TOBERMORY DISTILLERY & VISITOR CENTRE: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

• (0.04 mi) Harbour Guest House
• (0.07 mi) Carnaburg Guest House
• (0.12 mi) Willow Cottage Bed & Breakfast
• (0.07 mi) The Tobermory Hotel
• (0.12 mi) Roslyn House
• (0.01 mi) Macgochans
• (0.12 mi) Isle of Mull Ice Cream
• (0.05 mi) Tobermory Handmade Chocolate
• (0.15 mi) The Galleon Bistro
• (0.07 mi) The Tobermory Hotel Restaurant

Find Your Tour

Tobermory distillery.

Tobermory Distillery produces two brands of malt; the soft and smooth Tobermory and the peated Ledaig (pronounced “Lay-chaik”) which is more full-bodied. It is an unfairly overlooked malt and the new "expressions" of 10 yr old Ledaig and 15yr old Tobermory are well worth seeking out as they deliver the peaty tones that will be liked by any fan of Islay malts.

Tobermory Distillery is a very small-scale distillery and the atmosphere is very informal and relaxed. The tour starts with an Audio-Visual presentation (in English) and then you go on a guided walk around the mash room and still rooms, before concluding your tour in traditional fashion with a “wee dram”.  Your guide will explain the theory behind the unusual-shaped “lyne arm” on the stills. The design of the lyne arm determines how easily vapour escapes from the still, and Tobermory’s are designed to ensure only the lightest/purest vapours escape.  Tobermory Distillery has recently started to produce Gin, and a Gin Tasting experience (£18) is a new offering at the distillery from 2022. The tasting lets you 4 samples of their different Gin recipes.

With all of the tours, you get a £5 voucher that you can spend on a bottle or gift from the Distillery shop.

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Tobermory Distillery

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The Tobermory Distillery was launched in 1798 in the Isle of Mull capital. This distillery is the older and one of the first commercial distilleries in the country (Scotland). The Tobermory distillery makes two types of single malts; the popular Ledaig and the ‘unpeated Tobermory.’

A taste of our single malts and you will catch a glimpse of the spirit of our impeccable island. Visitors are free to come to tour our island and discover the recipe and production process involved in our whisky production as well as the various drams in our distillery. You can read reviews from prior visitors on Tripadvisor.

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Tobermory Distillery

This bijou distillery was established in 1798. It doesn't always open on winter weekends; phone ahead to check or book. There are two whisky lines here: the standard Tobermory and the lightly peated Ledaig. The standard tour lets you taste one of them; for £10, you can try them both.

Get In Touch

01688-302647

https://www.tobermorymalt.com

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Tobermory Malt Whisky Distillery Tour

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Isle of Mull

Tobermory PA75 6NR

United Kingdom

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Before we had kids, my wife and I wound up doing an impromptu whisky tour of Scotland. Not intentionally, but we did our honeymoon in Scotland and my wife discovered she loved scotch (and Scotland), while I already knew I loved scotch. Our last two trips have been with kids and thus less focused on scotch, but we managed to make our way to Tobermory while on the Isle of Mull and it was a treat. We did the warehouse no. 1 tasting because it had the most interesting scotches from the description and it was a wonderful experience. We wound up running late because of the ferry and were brining along two small kids (4 and 7), but they happily ushered us into the tasting, which had just started after the tour (which we missed). The rest of the group doing the tasting (there were only 7 of us total) said they were fine with the kids as long as they were well-behaved. We tasted our way through four different cask (two unpeated Tobermory and two peated Ledaig) with a lively commentary from the guide and the other people on the tour. The whole thing was fun. The most fun was watching all the English people on the tour (including the guide) get into a well-mannered argument about the quality of the water at various points in the English Midlands. Beyond accommodating us being late and our kids, they also provided "drivers' drams" where we took home one set of the tasting in small bottles because one of us had to drive. That's an amazing feature, which I haven't seen at other distilleries in the past. As far as the actual whisky goes, it's a bit on the sweet side and it's not my perfect choice, but they do some really interesting things with the various barrels and casks they age it in. I'm currently sipping one that spent 10 years in a Bordeaux red wine cask that is delicious.

They say you should always leave the best things till last and well this is defo worth doing and leaving on a high. Our tour guide was Seth and he was awesome, he was very knowledgeable and although it's not the biggest distillery, the tour is very well put together and there are lots of things to see, smell and taste. When we went, the distillery wasn't operational due to upgrades which was kind of nice and perhaps you got a more in-depth view? Any questions we had were answered and the story of Tobermory distillery is fabulous. It's nice to see a distillery still using old methods and manpower rather than updating to full-on computers and robots. Once you have done (here I would recommend going the classic tour :-) ) its tasting time. We got to try 2 whisky's which are both produced here, very very nice. Once we had finished we then had an expensive trip to the shop which has loads of items to buy. Whether is raining or sunny you defo need to book yourself in on one of these tours.

This was an intimate tour of a working distillery. The tour guide was knowledgeable and I loved to hear her say "barley". I am from the US. We watched a 5 minute video at the beginning and then toured the building. At the end, we sampled the whisky. You can purchase 1 sample or two samples in your tour price. The price of the tour is deducted from your bottle purchase. Their prices at the distillery were the best that we had seen. Enjoyed it!

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• Oct 9, 2023

The Isle of Mull & Tobermory Distillery - Day Trip

Updated: Oct 21, 2023

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Scotland is magical, no doubt about it. I've been lucky enough to visit Glasgow and Edinburgh but it was time to see some of the mesmerising landscapes it has to offer as well and of course, one or two distilleries while we're there.

The Isle of Mull

Just off the West coast of Mainland Scotland, you can find the Isle of Mull. It's the fourth-largest island in Great Britain, with a population of about 3000 and around 300 miles of coastline. Apart from its picturesque beaches, this beautiful island is also home to Tobermory Distillery.

Ferry from Obam to the Isle of Mull

From Oban, we took a ferry (Caledonian MacBryene/ CalMac ) to Craignure. The ferry ride is around 45 minutes, during which you can enjoy the great views from the ferry's upper levels, either outside feeling the breeze or inside while enjoying some drinks or snacks.

I would highly recommend you book the tickets in advance, as going by ferry is the only way to get there.

Since the idea was to visit Tobermory Distillery as well, we decided to go to Mull with the car as well. If driving isn't an option for you, there seem to be 2 buses ( 495 and 95 ) going from Craignure Ferry Terminal to Tobermory, a few times a day. Unfortunately, I can't provide any feedback when it comes to the buses, so please make sure to check with their official websites before planning your visit.

After arriving in Craignure, we went straight to Tobermory since we had a Distillery tour booked quite early in the day. Driving there is a bit of an adventure as most of the time the road is big enough for one car. There are spaces where you can pull over so you can let the cars coming from the opposite direction pass.

Tobermory Distillery

If you plan on taking part in a Distillery Tour, make sure you book in advance. You cannot book distillery tours on the spot, so please try and plan in advance to avoid disappointment. You can still visit the Distillery Shop, even if you're not taking part in the tour,

We arrived there early in the day, but even so, finding a parking spot took a while. I would suggest going there as early as possible.

Tobermory Distillery Tour

Tobermory Distillery produces Ledaig and Tobermory Whisky. Ledaig Whisky is heavily peated while Tobermory is unpeated.

Ledaig, pronounced 'Letch-ick', is the old name of the distillery which dates back to 1798. Throughout the years, the distillery has gone through quite a few cycles of opening and closing down. For a brief time, some of the buildings were turned into holiday lets and some were cheese stores, but it all went back to being all about whisky in 1993.

The tour itself was great and had just the right amount of detail about the whisky-making process. It ended with a little whisky-tasting session, just so you can see exactly what it's all about.

If you're driving, don't worry, you won't miss out on the tasting session, as you can take the samples home with you in the cute little bottles provided.

Lunch in Tobermory

We had our fun, I sampled some whisky (probably why I don't drive), and now it was time for lunch. There are quite a few options, and we ended up going to the Gallery Restaurant which happens to be in a converted church. Good food, good drinks, very fresh fish so couldn't have asked for more.

Calgary Beach

As we went there towards the end of August, the water was quite cold, although, considering it is Scotland we're talking about, I doubt it gets very hot. We walked around the beach, barefoot, enjoying the scenery and listening to the waves. We were there in the middle of the day and there were only a few people around, so it was all quite serene.

Boat Wrecks

As we were making our way back to Craignure Ferry Terminal, we went on a different route to the initial one. We went past two boat wrecks which just seemed to fit in the whole landscape.

Not entirely sure if you can stop and have a closer look, but even from afar, they still looked amazing.

Ferry Back to Oban

We got back to the Ferry Terminal realizing we did not have enough time to visit Duart Castle, which looked quite impressive from afar, therefore it will be on the list for next time, we did however see a couple of faded rainbows.

The views from the Ferry were even more impressive as we left around sunset.

Overall, a day trip to Mull and Tobermory Distillery was highly worth it, so if you happen to be in Oban, or anywhere near there, I highly recommend you set aside a day (at least) just for this.

Have you ever been to Mull or Tobermory? If so, please let me know how it went, in the comments below.

I hope life is treating you well.

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A Visit to Tobermory Distillery: Remote and Well Worth It….

Our initial plan was to go from Fort William by car to Ardnamurchan in the morning, then take the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory, and end the day traveling with our rented car to Oban to head down to Campbeltown. However, due to the late publication of the Mull to Oban timetable and the removal of one of the two ferries running the route, the last ferry off Mull was at 5 pm (instead of 8) and there were no car berths to be had. I’m told local residents have priority booking on the ferry, which makes perfect sense.

What Really Happened?

We ended up forgoing our drive into the Ardnamurchan peninsula (which is a shame, I hear it’s stunning), and drove to Oban for an early morning ferry to Mull, minus the car. From Craignure, there’s a bus (495) that goes directly from the ferry to the front door of the distillery, which lies at the start of the Tobermory main street. The bus takes about 45 minutes, and is synchronized both ways with the ferry. In years past, the southern side of the bay (where the distillery is located and the picture taken from) was called Ledaig and the northern part (with the famous painted houses) was Tobermory . Now it’s all Tobermory and Ledaig lives on in the whisky. I also learned that the local pronunciation of Ledaig is  LE-zh aig.

Tobermory Village from the distillery, Ardnamurchan Peninsula in background | Photo: Michael Bendavid

After a lovely walk around Tobermory, marred only by the fact that Yoav dropped his phone which now rests in pieces, we came to the distillery to meet Distillery Manager Murray Kerr. Murray has an infectious enthusiasm for whisky, and gave us a wonderfully in depth tour of the distillery.

Distillery Manager Murray Kerr and Us

The first thing that strikes you at the Tobermory distillery is the size. The distillery is small, really small, and has absolutely nowhere to expand. Even the visitor center, which gets a lot of walk-in traffic by virtue of its central location seems cramped once a tasting lets out and people waiting for the bus wander in. Working at the visitor center can get pretty hectic. Some of the old warehouses were converted to apartments, and the distillery is basically hemmed in on all sides. The second thing that’s really evident is the distillery’s total reliance on the ferry. Everything but the water needs to be brought in. From malt to yeast, and as we mentioned, storage space is very limited. Also, since there’s no warehouse space, all new make spirit has to go to the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride for filling into casks and aging.  Both sides of that equation happen on a ferry, and running the distillery is a constant logistical juggling act. Even the malt storage bin management is a puzzle, as there are six 23 ton bins, but each truck (OK, lorrie) carries 28 tons so you need to choreograph your mashings with your malt arrival so you have an empty bin and a quarter for the malt that comes from Yorkshire. Think of that next time you take a dram of a Tobermory/Ledaig whisky. I think that calls for a toast those wonderful people that make this whole logistical machine tick.

I don’t want the post to be too technical, but I will say that the 7.5 ton mash tun likes the Porteus mill to make grist that’s a little less floury than the standard, and at Tobermory they mill to a 70-22-8 standard. The mash tun is so big, that to replace it they had to break open a wall, which was then rebuilt with room to walk around the mash tun. Ladaig’s malt is peated at 40 ppm and Tobermory’s is completely unpeated.

Tobermory Mash Tun, Note the “bay” windows on the left | Photo: Michael Bendavid

The distillery is working almost at full capacity, 24 hours a day, five days a week, making 900,000 LPA per year (out of a theoretical capacity of 1.2 MLPA). I say full capacity because the four new Oregon Pine washbacks (each at 33,000 liters) are the distillery’s bottleneck. The recipe calls for long fermentations of over 100 hours to be combined with shorter fermentations of 52 hours. Five long fermentations are distilled and mixed with four short fermentation for Ledaig; Tobermory is comprised of five long fermentations on three short ones, and the washbacks are at full capacity. This is part of Master Distiller Brendan McCarron’s focus on Tobermory spirit and getting more fruity notes into it.

Tobermory Washbacks | Photo: Michael Bendavid

Each washback fills two distillation runs, each week has nine mashes, so we have 18 wash still runs which produce 8-10 spirit still runs. The lyne arms go straight out, then tilt up, creating sort of an S, creating some serious reflux back down the lyne arm, following that created earlier by the (relatively small) reflux ball.

Tobermory Stills | Photo: Michael Bendavid

Each brand, Tobermory and Ledaig is distilled for six months out of the year.

Should you get to Mull?

I have always adored Tobermory, and getting to the distillery was a priority for me on this trip. I have to say that getting to the distillery was worth every bit of the effort. So, if you’re already a fan of the distillery, you obviously have to get there. But if the distillery is (somehow) not near the top of your list, you DEFINITELY need to get there, see Tobermory for yourself and do the tasting. I’m sure you won’t remain on the fence! By the way, in season, Mull is a prime location to see Puffins 🙂

The Tasting

After our fascinating in depth tour, we went into a room in the visitor center for the Warehouse tasting. We joined a group of Dutch enthusiasts who came over for the tasting, whom we incidentally met also in Glen Scotia. If you were wondering, the warehouse tasting wasn’t in the warehouse as there was something there that prevented visitor entry into the warehouse.

Tobermory and Ledaig Tasting

The tasting included: Tobermory 2012 ex-bourbon,  58.7%. Tobermory 1995 Manzanilla Finish, 52.7%. Ledaig 2012 ex-Bourbon, 59.7%. Ledaig 2009 Red Wine barrel, 56.3%. The empty full size Glencairn was for new make spirit.

While the 2009 Ledaig was an absolute stunner, it’s no longer for sale. Hence, I chose to review a dram that’s available to taste at the distillery, and is also still available for purchase.

The Whisky Review

The 23 year old Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish is actually the 15 year old that was discontinued a few years back, but left in the finishing Gonzalez Byass Oloroso Casks for a further 8 years. The Hebridean Series is planned to be a five year project, each edition visiting the whisky another year into its (already) long finish. This should get more and more interesting as this progresses. The second installment, the 24 year old, is also out.

Tobermory Hebridean Series,  23 Year Old, Oloroso Cask Finish (46.3% ABV, NCF, NC)

Appearance : Deep gold, there’s a very sturdy necklace with droplets peeling off very slowly to form very slow legs.

Nose : Leather, dried fruit and oranges, with a hint of brine. Sweet and lightly floral, with notes of fresh peach and light wood spices. After some time in the glass, hints of cereal and malt come through.

Palate : Pepper and citrus rind mix with bitter almond and cocoa powder. It’s spicy and bitter, with just a very light hint of unrealized sweetness. It’s a complex dram, but will not be up everybody’s ally.

Linger : Spicy and dry on the tongue, with pepper and nutmeg, with a tannic dryness inside the cheeks and in the back of the gullet. There’s also a woody bitterness there adding to the complexity, with a faint hint of bitter cocoa powder.

The palate and the nose are somewhat on different pages. The fruity promise of the nose is taken to the bitter end of the spectrum with citrus rind and bitter almond. To me, this makes this dram more interesting, although this is really not what I imagined against my (admittedly faint) memory of the Tobermory 15, which I remember as a sherry bomb, but don’t have notes to compare.

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Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre

Top ways to experience Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre and nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Tobermory Distillery & Visitor Centre - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor

• (0.07 km) Harbour Guest House
• (0.11 km) Carnaburg Guest House
• (0.19 km) Willow Cottage Bed & Breakfast
• (0.12 km) The Tobermory Hotel
• (0.20 km) Roslyn House
• (0.01 km) Macgochans
• (0.19 km) Isle of Mull Ice Cream
• (0.08 km) Tobermory Handmade Chocolate
• (0.23 km) The Galleon Bistro
• (0.11 km) The Tobermory Hotel Restaurant

Tobermory Ticket Portal

• Alternative Warehouse 1
• Tobermory Gin Tasting
• Whisky Tastings
• Tasting Tour
• My Account Manage your details
• FAQs Got a question?
• Call us 0168 830 2647
• Email us [email protected]
• Visit our website http://tobermorydistillery.com

Warehouse 1 Experience

Warehouse 1 Tasting 

We look forward to welcoming you to Tobermory Distillery and our Warehouse 1 Tasting. 

An unforgettable experience of Tobermory and/or Ledaig single cask and limited release whiskies. Hear stories of the history, people and passion that make Tobermory so special and unique. This incredible experience will take you on a journey of flavour and discovery with a tutored tasting of four cask strength whiskies.

Drams: 4 warehouse and premium drams (25ml). 

Duration:         1h 15 minutes                                                       

Driver’s Drams: For those on driving duties we can supply (20ml) ‘Driver’s Drams’ to take away and enjoy at your leisure.

NO open sandals (hiking sandals with full toes okay), flipflops, open back shoes including crocs. No high heels.

NOT possible with stick/s, wheelie-zimmers etc

NOT advised if you are afraid of heights

Ticket options

Adults over 18yo only.

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• Registered Company Name : DISTELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
• Registered Company Address : 8 Milton Road, College Milton North, East Kilbride, G74 5BU
• Registered Company Number : SC109881

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Tobermory Distillery

Distillery in isle of mull.

Established in 1798, Tobermory Distillery is, as the name suggests, also based in the town. The original and only distillery on the island and one of the oldest commercial distilleries in Scotland. Originally known as Ledaig, the distillery has had its ups and downs, closing on a number of occasions, but over the past 20 years, it has gone from strength to strength. As with some other Scottish distilleries, you can tour Tobermory, with three different tour levels to choose from.

They are unique for producing two different, but alluring, single malts: the fruity, unpeated Tobermory and the more robust and smoky Ledaig.

The Tobermory Distillery appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Isle of Mull !

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Visiting Tobermory Distillery

Nearby attractions.

• Tobermory (0.3) km Town in Isle of Mull
• Tobermory Lighthouse (2.0) km Lighthouse in Isle of Mull
• Aros Castle (13.7) km Castle in Isle of Mull
• Calgary Beach (13.7) km Beach in Isle of Mull
• Eas Fors Waterfall (14.0) km Waterfalls in Isle of Mull
• Ben More (22.0) km Mountain in Isle of Mull
• Fingal’s Cave and Staffa (26.5) km Island in Isle of Mull
• Duart Castle (31.3) km Castle in Isle of Mull
• Lochbuie Standing Stones (32.0) km Historic Site in Isle of Mull
• Moy Castle (32.3) km Castle in Isle of Mull

Tours and Activities from Isle of Mull

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Tobermory is the only distillery on the Scottish Ilse of Mull and is located in the middle of the eponymous capital of Mull. Tobermory is one of the oldest active distilleries in Scotland.

Two different lines of Whisky are produced at Tobermory: on the one hand Tobermory Whisky with just a hint of smokiness, on the other hand the peated Ledaig Whisky.  For the Tobermory, the unpeated malt variety 'optic Concerto' with less than 2ppm phenolic content is used, while the Ledaig is made from the peated 'optic Concerto' barley with 30-40ppm phenolic content. A very strongly peated version was also offered in the past in small quantities under the Iona label.

The standard bottlings of the two labels are the 12 year old Tobermory and the 10 year old Ledaig, but older single malts are also available as original bottlings of both, such as a Tobermory 21 year old or a Ledaig 18 year old.

Tobermory 12 years old is an intense and aromatic Single Malt with a fruity and floral character, spicy notes such as ginger and aniseed, slightly nutty aromas and a medium-long finish. It is non chill filtered and without artificial colouring. Ledaig 10 years old combines peat smoke with malty aromas, citrus fruits, pepper and maritime notes. Its character is reminiscent of an Islay Malt. It is also non chill filtered and without artificial colouring. Beside these original bottlings from Burn Stewart Distillers, which was bought by the South African Distell Group in 2013, there are a lot of independent bottlings of Tobermory and Ledaig on the market.

Produced since 2019, Tobermory Gin has a splash of Whisky new make spirit added even before maceration to give it its unique slightly malty character. It contains hand-selected botanicals such as juniper, tea, heather, elderflower and sweet orange peel. The herbs are steeped in the 65% alcohol base spirit for at least 24 hours.

Tobermory's first limited edition Gin is Mountain Gin. It contains rowan berries, tea and wild heather, which gives the island of Mull a beautiful purple colour during the summer months. The Mountain Gin, inspired by the mountainous landscape of Mull, also contains Whisky new make spirit, as do all Tobermory Gins.

Another member of the Tobermory Gin range is the Hebridean Coast Gin, for which the picturesque and wild coastlines of the Isle of Mull were the inspiration. Botanicals such as lovage, sugar kelp (an edible type of brown seaweed), lavender and sea fennel give the Gin a sweet yet salty flavour.

The inspiration from the Isle of Mull is also reflected in the bottle design. While the first Hebridean Gin features the colourful houses of the island on the inside of the label, the Mountain Gin shows a mountainous landscape coloured purple by the blooming heather and the Coast Gin correspondingly presents a coastal landscape.

The History

Having been established in 1798, Tobermory is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. Back then, John Sinclair named his distillery 'Ledaig', which is Gaelic for 'safe haven'. The small town that Sinclair had chosen for his distillery was a small fishing harbour in a quiet bay – a veritable 'safe haven'. The distillery had ups and downs over the course of history. It was mothballed, reopened and sold again and again. The last long production halt lasted from 1930 until 1972. After thorough renovations the newly founded Ledaig Distillery Ltd. reopened the distillery. However, three years later it went bankrupt. But this time production wasn't halted for long, and in 1979 Tobermory Distillers Ltd., which was founded by the buyers, Kirkleavington Property, resumed production. But again, they couldn't last longer than three years. When Burn Stewart Distillers, who also own Bunnahabhain and Deanston, took over Tobermory in 1993, a more stable era seemed to have begun. But the only constant thing in life is change, and Burn Stewart was bought by CL Financial for 50 million pounds in 2002. The subsequent years were successful, and when Burn Stewart were again sold (this time to the South African Distell Group Ltd.), their value had already increased to 160 million pounds.

Since the new South African owners took over, the annual production has been set to 850,000 litres of alcohol, which is split evenly between Tobermory and Ledaig. Tobermory doesn't operate at full capacity, which would be 1 million litres per year. 

Switching between the two recipes is not so easy, as the pots have to be thoroughly cleaned first. When the production is changed from smoky Ledaig to non-smoky Tobermory, this is particularly difficult and requires a cleaning period of two weeks.

The Mashing

Tobermory has its own water source called 'Gearr Abhainn'. The Tobermory River carries the water past the distillery and was also used as its power supply in the past. The water is interspersed with peaty phenols that give Tobermory a slightly phenolic character although the malt used for Tobermory Whisky is unpeated. The malting floors have been closed long ago.

For a long time, Tobermory still used an old cast-iron mash tun that had a capacity of 5 tons. However, this was replaced by a new environmentally friendly semi lauter mash tun made of stainless steel and with energy recovery of the water. A wall in the distillery was specially knocked down for the replacement.

Mashing is done in three stages, the last of which is recycled to get the maximum sugar. The mash tun is filled with 9.5 tons of barley grist, which yields about 33,000 litres of mash, that then goes on to fermentation.

The Fermentation

The four wooden washbacks made of Douglas fir wood have a capacity of 50,000 litres each, but are only filled with a batch of mash of 33,000 litres each before the yeast is added.

The still has a relatively long fermentation time of 56 to over 100 hours, resulting in a fruity flavour. The process is the same for both types of Whisky, the difference is only in the smoke content.

The Distillation

The Tobermory Distillery uses two pairs of pot stills. One of the pairs was renewed in 2014. The two wash stills are filled with 16,500 litres each, the spirit stills with 16,700 litres each. The size of the stills is roughly the same and the shape is also similar, yet each still is slightly different. It is rather unusual for the spirit still to be filled with more alcohol. This is due to the distilling speed of Tobermory, which is significantly slower in the spirit still. This allows the alcohol to spread out better, rise up the Lyne Arm to the condenser and the condensate can flow back into the copper pot.

The Warehouses

Tobermory has hardly any storage capacity, as the warehouse located across the road was once sold and converted into flats. Therefore, most of the distillery's casks are stored at its sister distillery Deanston near Doune. There is a small warehouse on site with space for storing smaller quantities of casks for special editions or limited bottlings.

Visitor Centre

Tobermory has a visitor centre and offers tours. The Whisky and Gin Experiences can be booked online via the distillery's homepage.

Distillery Address:

Tobermory Distillery Ledaig, Tobermory Isle of Mull PA75 6NR Tel. +44 168 8302647 Email:  info.tobermory@ remove-this. distellinternational.com  

User Notes about the Distillery

Share your experience with other whisky lovers. Write a note about your trip to the Tobermory distillery.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Online shopping faq.

Shipping is calculated by order weight. A full breakdown of the charges including tax can be seen at checkout. Please note, prices may appear differently on the site depending on where you have set your shipping address to. This is due to some countries including taxes e.g., products in the UK are inclusive of VAT.

Orders to the UK mainland can expect to receive orders in 3-5 business days. Our orders are shipped on business days only, by our fulfilment partner’s warehouse in Glasgow, Scotland.

We can ship to the EU except for France, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia and Italy. Due to Brexit surcharges and resultant processing fees, our delivery cost has increased, however, we will continue to process all fees on the website to ensure a seamless transaction for you. In addition to shipping charges, the following will also be charged at checkout: Courier Shipping Brexit Surcharge: £5 Customs Clearance: £6 Please allow extra time for orders going to the EU as due to Brexit, there may be a small delay in customs.

No, we process all fees and taxes on our website, with the exception of Spain and Finland. Due to updates in local customs, VAT is no longer added on our website and the consumer will need to pay this upon delivery.

Once you place your order, it usually takes 24 hours for our fulfilment partners to process and send it. (Please note, this may be longer at busy times or if we are waiting on a delivery of stock). As soon as it ships, you’ll receive a confirmation email and tracking information. You can also log in to your account to see your order status.

We do not provide refunds unless your product is faulty or damaged. We will provide a refund or provide a replacement where available for any products received damaged or faulty, provided we are notified within 3 working days of receipt. Where a replacement item is not available, due to it being discontinued or the original item being a “One Off,” we will reimburse you for the full cost of the item only and any shipping costs. No compensation will be paid. Upon receipt of your order, the order should be carefully inspected to make sure that it is intact and in full. The courier must be informed of breakages or shortages at the time of delivery. We may not (at our sole discretion) accept any claims for breakages or shortages unless they are stated on the courier’s documentation. We must have confirmation of these breakages or shortages within 3 working days of delivery. Photographic evidence is required by our carrier company if an item has been damaged during transit. In the case of a return being necessary, our fulfilment partners will be in touch to arrange a courier to collect the item. Please note, you may be required to be available for a set amount of time to do this.

If you would like to cancel your order, please contact us on [email protected] as soon as possible. If your order has already been dispatched, we will not be able to process the cancellation until the goods are returned to us. Please allow 7-10 days for the money to show in your account after cancelling an order.

Unfortunately, we cannot combine multiple orders, regardless if they are going to the same shipping address and were placed on the same day. We would ask you to be patient with the site and check your basket to ensure you have everything you are looking for in the one order before checking out.

Once your order is placed, you’ll be sent an order confirmation email with your order number and details. Please check your junk folder if this does not appear in your inbox.

Please check the terms & conditions associated with the promotion for all the details on inclusions and exclusions and timings. Some items you are trying to purchase may be excluded from the promotion, or the promotion may have ended. If you believe the promotional code should work on your order and you are still having issues with it, please contact [email protected] and we will investigate your issue, and, if relevant, give you a new code.

Some of our products are very limited in number, therefore, sometimes we may limit the number of bottles available to purchase to one or two per person. This is to give more people the chance to get our most popular bottlings.

Depending on the product, we will restock. However, items such as limited editions or single cask whiskies only have a small number of bottles so once they’re sold out online, there will be no more. Sometimes an item which has sold out online is still available at the distillery visitor centre. These are two separate shops, so we are unable to process orders and send directly from the distillery on Mull.

Visiting the Distillery FAQ

If you would like to attend one of our distillery experiences, we ask you to book ahead of arriving, as spaces are limited. You can do this online at https://tobermorydistillery.digitickets.co.uk/tickets . If you would just like to come and see us in the Visitor Centre, you do not need to book in advance.

If you are unable to attend your experience, please call us on +44 (0) 168 830 2647 or email [email protected] with your name, the experience you have booked and your booking reference if applicable. We will aim to refund all bookings if your circumstances change, however, please allow sufficient notice to allow the team to do this. If you miss your experience, we will not refund any bookings.

If you are running late, please let us know as soon as possible by calling the Visitor Centre on +44 (0) 168 830 2647 (please note, you may not always get phone signal on the island, particularly in some of the more remote areas). Please report to the Visitor Centre when you arrive and a member of the team will take you to the tasting or tour area. Please note, we cannot start a tasting or tour outside of the available booking times, so you may miss some information if arriving late.

Please aim to arrive about 10 minutes before your experience is due to start. When you arrive at Tobermory, please park in the public Ledaig car park if you have a car, and come to the Visitor Centre (clearly marked white building beside the garage). Let a member of the team know you're here and they'll take you to the experience when it is ready to begin.

Not all surfaces at the distillery are completely level, so we would recommend you wear sensible footwear (no high heels or flip flops). If you are attending one of our warehouse experiences, please wear warm clothing as the warehouses are kept at a consistently cool temperature.

If you're driving, we offer 'driver's drams' so you can take away the whisky or gin tasted in the experience to enjoy in your own time at home.

Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult at all times, whilst on the premises. Anyone who appears to be under the age of 25 may be asked to present a valid photo ID or passport as proof of age in order to taste or purchase any alcohol, in terms of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. Children of all ages are welcome inside the Visitor Centre itself. Children under the age of 12 years old are not permitted inside of the production areas therefore are unable to attend our Distillery Tours. Furthermore, anyone under the age of 18 years old are unable to attend our Warehouse 1 experience.

Well behaved pets are welcome in our Visitor Centre, however, due to health and safety, pets are not permitted in production or drinking areas.

Our Whisky FAQ

Whilst we do our best to ensure our corks are robust, cork is a natural product, which can sometimes break. If you experience any issues with your cork, email us at [email protected] and our customer services team will be in touch to organise a new cork for you. This is also raised with our quality team, so we can ensure we are producing the best products we possibly can.

We love hearing from you and are happy to help with any questions you might have, from how we produce our two distinct malts and gins, to current bottlings or some from the archives. Drop us an email on [email protected] or a message on social media @tobermorydistillery.

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18 Aug 2022

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