Edradour Ballechin 2005 Cask #370

An official release of Ballechin, a 12 year old, from 2005, cask 370, at 46%, 371 bottles in all. Ballechin is the heavily peated single malt from Edradour, the tiny farm distillery at Pitlochry. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

Made from malt peated to around fifty parts per million in the tiny stills, giving a rich, peated Highland spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the smoke knitting with the rich, oily spirit. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand. Ballechin was first distilled in 2003, the malt peated to around fifty parts per million. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery. Its peated make, Ballechin, is named after a long extinct peated farm distillery a few miles away.

At 46% it is rich, nutty and full. A smoky, oily sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is thick and oily, the smoke on a creamy body. A long, smoky finish carries dried fruit and a soft ash. This is a peated Highland single malt of real weight.