Edradour 2009 Vintage The Chronicles (LMDW)

An Edradour of a 10 year old chosen by the Paris house La Maison du Whisky, distilled in 2009, bottled at 46%. Edradour is a rich Highland malt from the pocket glen at Balnauld, distilled since 1825. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings.

Run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, giving the full bodied, creamy Highland spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper apple and dried fruit. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore. It once supplied blends such as House of Lords and King's Ransom. Its water comes from the Ben Vrackie springs in the hills above the distillery. Refill oak lets the rich, oily Edradour character lead the way.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A rich, nutty sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is oily and creamy, the fruit lifted by vanilla. The close is oily and warming, fruit over a gentle oak. This is Edradour, one of Scotland's smallest distilleries.