Edradour Ballechin 2013

An 11 year old Ballechin, a distillery bottling, from 2013, cask 1, at 57%, 315 bottles in all. Ballechin is the smoky side of Edradour, a heavily peated malt from Pitlochry. For years its sign read Scotland's smallest distillery; it now calls itself Scotland's little gem.

Drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs, smoke over an oily spirit, for a heavy, smoky spirit with an oily depth. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the fruit. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the smoke knitting with the rich, oily spirit. Refill oak lets the rich, oily Edradour character lead the way. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings. The full bodied spirit shows the cask clearly, the sherry and oak to the fore.

At 57%, undiluted, it is deep and concentrated. Peat smoke, dried fruit and a nutty oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a peppery smoke lift it. The finish runs long, smoky and warming. This is Ballechin, Edradour's peated single malt.