Edradour Ballechin 2008 Cask #221

An 11 year old Ballechin, a distillery bottling, from 2008, cask 221, at 46%, 892 bottles in all. Ballechin is the smoky side of Edradour, a heavily peated malt from Pitlochry. The distillery sits in a pocket glen at Balnauld, in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire.

It was run through the small stills, the peat smoke carried into a rich, oily make, giving a rich, peated Highland spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the rich Edradour make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as the peat smoke softens to a mellow, oily reek. The worm tubs leave an oily weight that carries through the years in cask. Signatory's wide cask range gives the small distillery an unusual variety of finishes. It was founded in 1825, growing out of an old farmers' cooperative in the glen above Pitlochry. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A smoky, fruity richness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut 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 a peated Highland single malt of real weight.