Edradour 10 Years Old 2011 Cask #488 (Signatory)

The Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage bottled this Edradour, a 10 year old, distilled in 2011, from cask 488, bottled at 46%. Edradour is a Highland single malt from Perthshire, traditional and tiny, now Scotland's little gem. A rare Morton refrigerator still cools the wort, one of the last in use in Scotland.

It was distilled from unpeated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, for a full, oily make of dried fruit and chocolate. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working slowly into the rich malt. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper apple and dried fruit. Ben Vrackie water and a long ferment give the rich Edradour make. It once supplied blends such as House of Lords and King's Ransom. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit.

At 46% it is creamy and full. Chocolate, dried fruit and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is rich and oily, the full bodied spirit shining through. The finish runs long, nutty and warming. This is a creamy, nutty Highland single malt.