Edradour 1st Fill Cabernet Sauvignon Casks 13 Years Old 2012

This official Edradour, a 13 year old, from 2012, cask 703, 704, 706, at 48.2%, 1093 bottles in all. Edradour is a Highland single malt from Perthshire, traditional and tiny, now Scotland's little gem. The distillery sits in a pocket glen at Balnauld, in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire.

Drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs for an oily make, for a full, oily make of dried fruit and chocolate. Maturation came in a Cabernet Sauvignon cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the oily malt, the body fuller and creamier. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings.

At its natural 48.2% it is rich and full bodied. Dried fruit, chocolate and a nutty oil, with a dark berry and a firm tannin from the cask. Soft chocolate and a nutty oil sit behind the cask. A long, nutty finish carries dried fruit and a soft spice. This is a rich, oily Highland single malt.