Ballechin 2005 (LMDW) (56.5%)

A 10 year old Ballechin from the Paris house La Maison du Whisky, distilled in 2005, from cask 901, bottled at 56.5%, one of 274 bottles. Ballechin is the smoky side of Edradour, a heavily peated malt from Pitlochry. It is one of the smallest traditional distilleries in Scotland, long run by just two or three hands.

Distilled from heavily peated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, the worm tubs lending weight to the smoke. It was matured in a Rum cask, the wood working slowly into the rich malt. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the smoky malt, the body fuller and oilier. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. A gentle maturation suits the oily make, the nutty richness growing with time.

At 56.5%, undiluted, it is deep and concentrated. Soft ash, dried fruit and a creamy malt, with a soft brown sugar and a tropical fruit from the cask. The texture is oily and smoky, the fruit lifted by vanilla. A long, smoky finish carries dried fruit and a soft ash. This is a rich, smoky Highland single malt.