Ballechin 2004 (Signatory)

A 16 year old Ballechin from the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2004, from cask 8, bottled at 52.7%, one of 275 bottles. Ballechin is Edradour's heavily peated malt, smoke laid over a rich, oily Highland spirit. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings.

The spirit was worked through worm tubs from heavily peated malt for a smoky, oily spirit, giving a rich, peated Highland spirit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, dried fruit and chocolate rising under the oily smoke. Long ageing turns the rich make towards dried fruit, fig and a soft spice. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady. For years its sign read Scotland's smallest distillery; it now calls itself Scotland's little gem.

Bottled at a cask strength 52.7%, it is rich. Soft ash, dried fruit and a creamy malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A dried fruit and a tarry oak give it depth. The finish is long, smoky and gently spiced. This is a peated Highland single malt of real weight.