Ballechin 2008 (Signatory) (58.9%)

The Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage bottled this Ballechin, a 17 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask 181, bottled at 58.9%, one of 227 bottles. Ballechin is Edradour's smoky single malt, peated to around fifty parts per million. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit.

Run through the small stills, the peat smoke carried into a rich, oily make, for the smoky, oily Ballechin make. A Port cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. At oxidative maturity vanillin and lactones are expressed, the smoke folding into the nutty, oily malt. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand. A rare Morton refrigerator still cools the wort, one of the last in use in Scotland. Ballechin was first distilled in 2003, the malt peated to around fifty parts per million.

At cask strength 58.9% it is big and oily. Peat smoke, fig and a soft chocolate, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. Peat, fig and a creamy malt fill the middle. A rich finish ends on soft ash and dried fruit. This is a rich, smoky Highland single malt.