Edradour Straight From The Cask – Port Wood Finish 12 Years Old 2001

A 12 year old Edradour, a distillery bottling, from 2001, at 56%, 1022 bottles in all. Edradour is a full bodied, oily Highland malt made on Ben Vrackie water at Pitlochry. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

Drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs for an oily make, giving the full bodied, creamy Highland spirit. It was matured in a Port cask, the wood working slowly into the rich malt. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the nutty chocolate deepening. A gentle maturation suits the oily make, the nutty richness growing with time. The distillery sits in a pocket glen at Balnauld, in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings. Active wood frames the rich fruit without overwhelming the oily Highland spirit.

At cask strength 56% it is big and oily. A rich, oily orchard fruit and almond, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, chocolate and a soft oil. It finishes long, rich and oily. This is a rich, oily Highland single malt.