Edradour Ballechin 2010 (46.6%)

Ballechin from the distillery, a 13 year old, from 2010, at 46.6%, 666 bottles in all. Ballechin is Edradour's heavily peated malt, smoke laid over a rich, oily Highland spirit. Its peated make, Ballechin, is named after a long extinct peated farm distillery a few miles away.

The spirit was run through the small stills, the peat smoke carried into a rich, oily make, for a smoky, oily make of peat and dried fruit. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the fruit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as the peat smoke softens to a mellow, oily reek. Maturation in the dunnage warehouses at Pitlochry is slow and steady. The cool Highland air of the glen gives a slow, even maturation in the small Edradour warehouses. Ben Vrackie water and a long ferment give the rich Edradour make. A 2018 expansion added a second still house, the production still small and traditional.

At 46.6% it is creamy and full. A smoky, fruity richness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Peat, fig and a creamy malt fill the middle. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a soft oak see out a long finish. This is a heavily peated Highland malt from Pitlochry.