Edradour Ballechin 2005 Cask #387

Ballechin from the distillery, an 11 year old, from 2005, cask 387, at 57.1%, 401 bottles in all. Ballechin is a heavily peated Highland single malt made at Edradour near Pitlochry. It keeps the old ways, with an open cast iron mash tun, Oregon pine washbacks and worm tub condensers.

It was distilled from heavily peated malt in tiny copper stills and worm tubs, for the smoky, oily Ballechin make. A Red Wine cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the smoke knitting with the rich, oily spirit. Active wood frames the rich fruit without overwhelming the oily Highland spirit. The distillery sits in a pocket glen at Balnauld, in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire. Long ageing turns the rich make towards dried fruit, fig and a soft spice. A small distillery and a hands on approach shape every cask by hand.

At cask strength 57.1% it is big and oily. Soft ash, dried fruit and a creamy malt, with red berry and a dry spice from the cask. A dried fruit and a tarry oak give it depth. The close is oily and smoky, fruit over a tarry oak. This is Ballechin, Edradour's peated single malt.