Ballechin 2011 vW (van Wees) (60%)

A 10 year old Ballechin from the Dutch bottler van Wees, distilled in 2011, from cask 271, bottled at 60%, one of 623 bottles. Ballechin is a heavily peated Highland single malt made at Edradour near Pitlochry. A 2018 expansion added a second still house, the production still small and traditional.

It was drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs, smoke over an oily spirit, for a heavy, smoky spirit with an oily depth. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as the peat smoke softens to a mellow, oily reek. The worm tubs leave an oily weight that carries through the years in cask. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit. It is one of the smallest traditional distilleries in Scotland, long run by just two or three hands.

At a hearty 60% it carries real weight. Peat, chocolate and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. 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.