Edradour 10 Years Old 2010 Cask #51 (Signatory)

From the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 10 year old Edradour, distilled in 2010, from cask 51, bottled at 46%. Edradour is a rich Highland malt from the pocket glen at Balnauld, distilled since 1825. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

The spirit was run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, giving the full bodied, creamy Highland spirit. Finished in an Oloroso cask, the wood building over the oily, full bodied spirit. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the rich, oily spirit growing creamier. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. Active wood frames the rich fruit without overwhelming the oily Highland spirit. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady.

At 46% it is smooth and rich. Dried fruit, nut and a soft chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, nut and a creamy malt fill the middle. The finish runs long, nutty and warming. This is a rich, oily Highland single malt.