Edradour 10 year old

Recommended use: Serve neat

Malt Mileage Rating: ★★★★

Type: Single malt Scotch whisky

Origin: Highlands, Scotland

ABV: 40%

Price: AU$80 / US$50 / £35 

1. The whisky

Edradaour, which is located in the hills above Pitlochry in the southern Highlands, is the smallest distillery in Scotland. The Edradour 10 year old is part of the distillery’s classic range, which makes special use of sherry wood in its maturation. 

2. Blind tasting notes

The nose is presents with hints of sherry, nougat, wood vanilla, oats, mild spice and malty milk chocolate. On the palate the whisky offers mild sherry and vanilla, with lots of honey and herbal tones wrestling with a fusion of light malt, fruit cake, oats, sweet mint, gold rum and green minted toffee apple; hugely complex, though muddled. The sherry is a nicely integrated component of the whisky’s character and it does not dominate over the malt, but, rather, it is a delicious piece in a delicious puzzle.  On the finish find vanilla and cream, crunchy nougat with dried fruit, dusty caster sugar and the aftertaste of roasted nuts as a long drawn out herbal smoke lingers.

3. Conclusions

Edradour 10 year old is an enjoyable, sweet, complex whisky which bursts into a free-for-all on the palate with the main components – malt, oat/grain, sherry, nougat, honey, vanillas, sugars, fruit cake, nuts, herbal notes (especially mint), faint wisps of smoke etc – playing their respective roles without dominating the show. It is a very drinkable and very entertaining dram, smooth as they come and distinctive. Admittedly, it would not be everyone’s malt given its unusual flavour profile. Strangely, that’s what I like about it.