Edradour Ballechin 2004 Cask #38

Ballechin from the distillery, a 13 year old, from 2004, cask 38, at 48%, 345 bottles in all. Ballechin is a heavily peated Highland single malt made at Edradour near Pitlochry. A 2018 expansion added a second still house, the production still small and traditional.

Distilled from heavily peated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, for a smoky, oily make of peat and dried fruit. Maturation came in a Burgundy cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the smoky malt, the body fuller and oilier. Long ageing turns the rich make towards dried fruit, fig and a soft spice. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady. Ben Vrackie water and a long ferment give the rich Edradour make. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core.

At cask strength 48% it is big and oily. A smoky, fruity richness, with a soft red berry and an earthy edge from the cask. Soft ash and a nutty oil sit behind the cask. The close is oily and smoky, fruit over a tarry oak. This is the oily, smoky malt of Ballechin.