Malt Mission 2007 #43

Edradour 10yo
Highland Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£30
$78.15(CAD)
$56(USD)

Edradour was founded in 1837 and is the last of the farm distilleries that once covered the area of Perthshire through the 19th century. Families would work together sharing the land, the water wheels, and the sweet spirit that would come of the excess barley. In 1925, the distillery was bought by Willam Whiteley to supply malt for his House of Lords and King's Ransom blends.He renames the distillery Glenforres-Glenlivet. Today it is owned by Andrew Symington and Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky.

I have visited it several times because Pitlochry is so easily accessible from Edinburgh and/or Glasgow, and after a hike through the woods, past a waterfall where deer are often sighted, coming upon the distillery straddling a 'wee burn' is like stepping back in time, making it an ideal Scottish whisky distillery day trip.

The distillery is said to have done a busy trade with American customers during prohibition and there are unsubstantiated stories that the distillery was was indirectly owned by the mafia.

Of interest, to me at least, are the facts that only 3 men are responsible for making the whisky, the stills are as small as are legally allowed for commercial scale and the distillery owns and uses the last working Morton refrigerator in the industry.

TASTING NOTES:

Odd array of aromas that is quite big and heavy. Sherry, bags of dried fruit, and smells like the taste of stomach bile. Wood and unscented body soap. Some smokiness that could just be the oaky sherriness.

Mouth-coating sherry that tightens up like the effect tootpaste on the tongue. Golden syrup and honey, but not sweet. In fact bitter and challenging. Some smoke appears with a distinct soapiness.Finish is not too long and consists of some sherry, oak and orange peel.

SUMMARY:

This is what I gather whisky tasted like in the 19th century and in some ways exemplifies why it offended the palates of the English middle classes and therefore benefited from blending. Their new Ballechin is supposed to really taste like whisky of centuries past, but if you arent willing to drop the coin, this gives a pretty good idea of what small stills hidden on Bens and in Glens would spit out. With the help of some choice sherry casks for maturation.

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