Edradour 12 Years Old 2012 Cask #421 (Signatory)

An Edradour of a 12 year old chosen by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2012, from cask 421, bottled at 59.2%, one of 564 bottles. Edradour is a Highland single malt from Perthshire, traditional and tiny, now Scotland's little gem. It was founded in 1825, growing out of an old farmers' cooperative in the glen above Pitlochry.

The spirit was run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, for a rich, nutty spirit with a waxy depth. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working slowly into the rich malt. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the rich, oily spirit growing creamier. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery.

At a natural 59.2% it is full and oily. Dried fruit, nut and a soft chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is rich and oily, the full bodied spirit shining through. A long, nutty finish carries dried fruit and a soft spice. This is a rich Highland malt from the pocket glen at Pitlochry.