Ballechin 2005 (Signatory)

A 13 year old Ballechin from the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2005, from cask 153, bottled at 56.4%, one of 192 bottles. Ballechin is a rich, smoky Highland single malt from the tiny Edradour distillery. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit.

The spirit was worked through worm tubs from heavily peated malt for a smoky, oily spirit, the worm tubs lending weight to the smoke. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut from the lactones. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) join the smoke, the dried fruit deepening beneath. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. A 2018 expansion added a second still house, the production still small and traditional. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses.

At a natural 56.4% it is full and oily. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a nutty oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Peat, fig and a creamy malt fill the middle. A rich finish ends on soft ash and dried fruit. This is a rich, smoky malt from one of Scotland's smallest distilleries.