Ballechin 2011 vW (van Wees)

A Ballechin of a 10 year old chosen by the Dutch bottler van Wees, distilled in 2011, from cask 273, bottled at 46%, one of 807 bottles. Ballechin is Edradour's heavily peated malt, smoke laid over a rich, oily Highland spirit. It was founded in 1825, growing out of an old farmers' cooperative in the glen above Pitlochry.

The spirit was drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs, smoke over an oily spirit, for the smoky, oily Ballechin make. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working slowly into the rich malt. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the smoke knitting with the rich, oily spirit. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. Ben Vrackie water and a long ferment give the rich Edradour make. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A smoky, fruity richness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Peat, fig and a creamy malt fill the middle. The finish runs long, smoky and warming. This is a rich, smoky malt from one of Scotland's smallest distilleries.