Edradour Blaufränkisch Mariental Cask Finish 13 Years Old 2003

A 13 year old Edradour, a distillery bottling, from 2003, cask 701, at 57.3%, 408 bottles in all. Edradour is a creamy, sherried Highland single malt from one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland. Its tiny copper stills and worm tubs give a rich, oily, full bodied spirit.

It was drawn off the tiny stills and cooled in worm tubs for an oily make, for the rich, oily make Edradour is known for. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut from the lactones. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the oily malt, the body fuller and creamier. The worm tubs leave an oily weight that carries through the years in cask. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. Years in oak round the spirit, the dried fruit and chocolate deepening over the oily core. The distillery sits in a pocket glen at Balnauld, in the hills above Pitlochry in Perthshire.

At cask strength 57.3% it is big and oily. Dried fruit, chocolate and a nutty oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a gentle spice lift it. The finish is long, oily and gently spiced. This is Edradour, one of Scotland's smallest distilleries.