Edradour Natural Cask Strength 12 Years Old 2010

Edradour from the distillery, a 12 year old, from 2010, cask 39, at 57.2%, 618 bottles in all. Edradour is a creamy, sherried Highland single malt from one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland. Under Signatory the range has grown to a wide run of sherry and wine cask bottlings.

It was distilled slowly in the old farm stillhouse on Ben Vrackie water, for a full, oily make of dried fruit and chocolate. An Oloroso cask held it, shaping the oily spirit over the years. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the oily malt, the body fuller and creamier. The tiny stills and worm tubs give an oily spirit that takes the cask well. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. It was founded in 1825, growing out of an old farmers' cooperative in the glen above Pitlochry. The worm tubs leave an oily weight that carries through the years in cask.

At its natural 57.2% it is rich and full bodied. Dried fruit, nut and a soft chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dried fruit and a polished oak give it depth. It finishes long, rich and oily. This is the little gem of the Highlands at Pitlochry.