Ballechin 2005 vW (van Wees) (56.7%)

The Dutch bottler van Wees bottled this Ballechin, an 11 year old, distilled in 2005, from cask 214, bottled at 56.7%, one of 228 bottles. Ballechin is the peated expression of Edradour, named after a long lost peated farm distillery nearby. It once supplied blends such as House of Lords and King's Ransom.

It was distilled from heavily peated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, for a smoky, oily make of peat and dried fruit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the smoke knitting with the rich, oily spirit. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery. For years its sign read Scotland's smallest distillery; it now calls itself Scotland's little gem.

At cask strength 56.7% it is big and oily. Peat, chocolate and a waxy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath the smoke run dried fruit, chocolate and a soft oil. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a soft oak see out a long finish. This is a heavily peated Highland malt from Pitlochry.