Edradour Ballechin 2004 Cask #196

This official Ballechin, a 15 year old, from 2004, cask 196, at 54.7%, 286 bottles in all. Ballechin is a peated Highland single malt from Edradour, owned by Signatory Vintage. A rare Morton refrigerator still cools the wort, one of the last in use in Scotland.

Run through the small stills, the peat smoke carried into a rich, oily make, for a heavy, smoky spirit with an oily depth. A Port cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity esters and a tarry depth, the smoke turning to soft ash and dried fruit. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. Its peated make, Ballechin, is named after a long extinct peated farm distillery a few miles away. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery.

At cask strength 54.7% it is big and oily. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a nutty oil, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. A dried fruit and a tarry oak give it depth. The close is oily and smoky, fruit over a tarry oak. This is a rich, smoky Highland single malt.