Ballechin 2010 (LMDW) (57.7%)

This Ballechin was bottled by the Paris house La Maison du Whisky, a 9 year old, distilled in 2010, from cask 301, bottled at 57.7%, one of 209 bottles. Ballechin is a rich, smoky Highland single malt from the tiny Edradour distillery. It is one of the smallest traditional distilleries in Scotland, long run by just two or three hands.

It was drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs, smoke over an oily spirit, building the rich, peated Ballechin style. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the fruit. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted sugars (caramel) beneath the heavy smoke. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses. Long ageing turns the rich make towards dried fruit, fig and a soft spice. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore.

At its natural 57.7% it is rich and full bodied. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a nutty oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A dried fruit and a tarry oak give it depth. The close is oily and smoky, fruit over a tarry oak. This is Ballechin, Edradour's peated single malt.