Edradour 12 Years Old (46%)

Edradour from the distillery, a 12 year old, at 46%, 3216 bottles in all. Edradour is a full bodied, oily Highland malt made on Ben Vrackie water at Pitlochry. A 2018 expansion added a second still house, the production still small and traditional.

It was distilled from unpeated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, for the rich, oily make Edradour is known for. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the oily malt, the body fuller and creamier. The tiny stills and worm tubs give an oily spirit that takes the cask well. It is one of the smallest traditional distilleries in Scotland, long run by just two or three hands. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

At 46% it is creamy and full. Dried fruit, fig and a creamy vanilla, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is rich and oily, the full bodied spirit shining through. A long, nutty finish carries dried fruit and a soft spice. This is a creamy, nutty Highland single malt.