Edradour 9 Years Old 2013 Cask #276 (van Wees)

From the Dutch bottler van Wees, a 9 year old Edradour, distilled in 2013, from cask 276, bottled at 58.7%, one of 672 bottles. Edradour is a small batch Highland malt, owned by the independent bottler Signatory Vintage. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings.

It was run through the small stills with their boil ball purifiers, for the rich, oily make Edradour is known for. An Oloroso cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted sugars (light caramel) over the creamy make. 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. For years its sign read Scotland's smallest distillery; it now calls itself Scotland's little gem.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.7%, it is rich. Chocolate, dried fruit and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a gentle spice lift it. The close is oily and warming, fruit over a gentle oak. This is Edradour, one of Scotland's smallest distilleries.