Edradour 10 Years Old 2008 Cask #129 (Beek Spirits)

An Edradour of a 10 year old chosen by the bottler Beek Spirits, distilled in 2008, from cask 129, bottled at 46%, one of 844 bottles. Edradour is a creamy, sherried Highland single malt from one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland. It was founded in 1825, growing out of an old farmers' cooperative in the glen above Pitlochry.

Run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, building the creamy Edradour style. An Oloroso cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the nutty chocolate deepening. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. The tiny stills and worm tubs give an oily spirit that takes the cask well. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. Dried fruit, chocolate and a nutty oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, chocolate and a soft oil. A long, nutty finish carries dried fruit and a soft spice. This is a Highland single malt of real character.