Edradour Natural Cask Strength – 5th Release 10 Years Old 2003

Edradour from the distillery, a 10 year old, from 2003, at 57.9%, 1496 bottles in all. Edradour is a small, traditional Highland single malt, owned by Signatory since 2002. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit.

It was distilled slowly in the old farm stillhouse on Ben Vrackie water, the worm tubs lending a weighty, oily character. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut from the lactones. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the nutty chocolate deepening. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. It once supplied blends such as House of Lords and King's Ransom. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

Bottled at a cask strength 57.9%, it is rich. A rich, oily orchard fruit and almond, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Fig, nut and a creamy malt fill the middle. A rich finish ends on dried fruit and a soft oak. This is the little gem of the Highlands at Pitlochry.