Edradour Straight From The Cask – Châteauneuf-du-pape Cask Finish 12 Years Old 1997

Edradour from the distillery, a 12 year old, from 1997, at 57.1%, 464 bottles in all. Edradour is a Highland single malt distilled in a pocket glen near Pitlochry since 1825. It was bought in 2002 by Andrew Symington of the independent bottler Signatory Vintage.

Distilled from unpeated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, the worm tubs lending a weighty, oily character. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the oily make lead. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the oily malt, the body fuller and creamier. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. It is one of the smallest traditional distilleries in Scotland, long run by just two or three hands. It once supplied blends such as House of Lords and King's Ransom. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady.

At cask strength 57.1% it is big and oily. Dried fruit, fig and a creamy vanilla, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Fig, nut and a creamy malt fill the middle. The close is oily and warming, fruit over a gentle oak. This is the oily, rich malt of tiny Edradour.