Edradour 9 Years Old 2010 Cask #404 (van Wees)

A 9 year old Edradour from the Dutch bottler van Wees, distilled in 2010, from cask 404, bottled at 56.8%, one of 666 bottles. Edradour is a rich, oily Highland single malt made in the old farm buildings above Pitlochry. A rare Morton refrigerator still cools the wort, one of the last in use in Scotland.

It was run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, building the creamy Edradour style. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted sugars (light caramel) over the creamy make. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand. For years its sign read Scotland's smallest distillery; it now calls itself Scotland's little gem. A gentle maturation suits the oily make, the nutty richness growing with time. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit.

At a hearty 56.8% it carries real weight. A rich, oily orchard fruit and almond, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, nut and a creamy malt fill the middle. Dried fruit, chocolate and a soft oak see out a long finish. This is the oily, rich malt of tiny Edradour.