Edradour 2012 Cask Strength Collection Collection Itinéraires 12 yo

 

 

 

59,2°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt

Independent Bottling 

By Signatory Vintage 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2025

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated 

 

 

 

Edradour was acquired by Andrew Symington in 2002, which means that this bottling is not truly independent, as the Symington brothers are also the founders of Signatory Vintage. In any case, it was selected by La Maison du Whisky to be part of the Collection Itinéraires, launched at Whisky Live Paris 2025. It was matured in a first-fill Oloroso sherry butt and 564 bottles made it onto the shelves. 

Let's Taste It : 

Blueberry, redcurrant, raspberry jam. Dried apricots, dates, hazelnut chocolate, apple compote, paprika. Behind, there is a farm with its pastures, cut cereals, hay, lush grass, caramelised earth. On the palate, it is very well made, egg custard, blood orange, English cream, elegant woodiness, tobacco, quince jelly, candied citrus fruits. A light dash of vanilla mingles with more exotic flavours. Quite expressive spices. The finish is explosive but slow to develop, pastry cream, shortbread biscuits, ginger, dried pineapple, pine resin and liquorice.

 

In Short, 

A beautiful, vigorous sherry with a certain character, whiffs of the countryside and earth, exotic fruits, all mixed together to create a wonderful cocktail with a beautiful personality. Of course, you have to like sherry, because it is very intense. Unfortunately, the price is high for what it is, but fans of this profile may be tempted.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping : 

 

                                           Elea Calvet - Memento Mori

Edradour Vintage 2000 Barolo Cask Finish 18 yo

 

 

 

56,5°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

Ex-Bourbon Casks and Barolo Wine Finish

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2019

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

There are many editions of Edradour finished in barrels of Barolo wine, but only one is 18 years old, and that is this one. It is a blend of two 12-year-old Bourbon casks, finished for 6 years in a barrel of this highly reputed Italian wine. The result gave 578 bottles.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Woody and spicy notes, soft and moist bark, black cherries, apricot tart, dried dates, cinnamon and nutmeg, heather, ivy, earth and chocolate. Slight hints of menthol and lemon, forest honey, candied quince. On the palate, dark berries, orchard fruits, Conference pears, Golden apples, salted butter caramel, vanilla custard, fig and chocolate filling, intense spices, whole almonds, peach stones. Long and powerful finish, but not quite explosive, bark, resin, maple syrup, shortbread biscuits, speculoos crumbs.

 

In Short, 

The wine's influence brings forest and spicy notes, which are very interesting, chocolatey, earthy and woody, quite original. I'm not totally won over, but I'm impressed. Unfortunately, the price is excessive.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           The Limiñanas - Prisoner of Beauty

Ballechin 2003 Conquête 18 yo

 

 

 

54°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Sherry Butt Finish

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2021

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 50 ppm

 

 

 

This Ballechin was released to celebrate the 65th anniversary of La Maison du Whisky. Finished in a first-fill Sherry Butt, it is exactly 18 years and 3 months old. Distributed in France, the Batch consists of 718 bottles.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Gritty, smoky peat, gravel, hot ashes, burning coal, fuel oil. A touch of stewed fruits, quinces and medlars, soft caramel, dark chocolate. Slight woodiness. Pencil lead, basalt. Malty on the palate, a little suave, red fruits with a dash of gas oil, light spices. A thick layer of peat in the background. Between liquorice and charcoal. The finish is just the way I like it, long, with a big whiff of smoke and brown coal, earth full of quartz, slate, stuffed fig, cola, pipe tobacco.

 

In Short, 

I didn't smell much Sherry. It's there however, but in the background, it doesn't add much complexity. On the other hand, what a great personality! Beautiful intensity of smoke, with mineral notes of graphite and slate. But also earth and charcoal. A fine bottling. Only the price is exaggerated, which explains why, three years later, La Maison du Whisky is still struggling to get rid of it.

Score : 89

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Pallbearer - Endless Place

Edradour 2003 Conquête 17 yo

 

 

 

56,6°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Sherry Butt Finish

Original Bottling

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2021

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated 

 

 

 

Distilled the year after Andrew Symington, who already owned Signatory Vintage, bought the distillery, this Edradour is one of the oldest you can find. Released to celebrate the 65th anniversary of La Maison du Whisky, it has been finished in a first-fill Sherry Butt, and has joined the Conquête range, which means exclusive sales on the French market. 674 bottles were filled. 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The Sherry is remarkable right from the first nose, dark chocolate, blood orange, with beautiful spices, black pepper and cloves. Dried and candied fruits, raisins, quinces, medlars, a drop of lemon, woody hints. Almonds with their pods, velvety walnuts. Silky and syrupy on the palate, with a few citrus fruits as well as raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. The discreet markers of the distillery in the background, malted cereals, touches of yellow fruits, light vanilla. Well-crafted, fairly long finish, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, earthy, woody notes, bark. Mentholated freshness at the very end.

 

In Short, 

A well-made, subtle product, but in which the Sherry is predominant, as is often the case with this distillery. This time, you can still smell the cereals and other details that give it a personality, but, given its age and price, I don't think that's enough. You can still find it in some shops in the depths of Europe, above the release price, which was already very high, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

Score : 88 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Sven Zetterberg - Let's Straighten it Out

Ballechin 2005 Matured in Burgundy Casks 17 yo

 

 

 

53,5°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Burgundy Wine Hogsheads

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malr 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 50 ppm

The Edradour distillery is undoubtedly one of those that offers the most original experiences. Here, a 17 year old aged in 8 Hogsheads of Burgundy wine, we would have liked to know which one. The result comes to 2103 bottles.

Let's Taste It : 

On the nose, candied cherries, morello cherries, amarena, blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants, some citrus fruit in the background, nutmeg, cloves, and hints of forest undergrowth, moss, lichen, bark, ferns, heather. Discreet smoke, fairly greasy and mineral, with shards of charcoal. On the palate, the fruit becomes very slightly acidic, more raspberry, gooseberry, cranberry, intense spices mixed with an earthy and chalky peat. The finish is long and full, with notes of dark chocolate, chicory, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, saffron and a drop of fuel oil.

 

In Short, 

The vinous influence is intense without being unpleasant, I find it more successful than the Longrow Red, because it's deeper and less acidic. You have to like the profile, of course. The price seems a bit high for what it is, but nothing outrageous.

Score : 89  

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Nibana - I am a Soul

Edradour 2011 Oloroso Sherry Butts Batch #2 12 yo

 

 

 

57,6°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill and 2d Fill Oloroso Sherry Butts 

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Last year, these two bottlings invaded the shelves of good wine merchants. Both were batches of Edradour aged for 12 years in Oloroso Sherry Butts. This is the second batch, the result of the blending of 5 Butts, making a total of 5,100 bottles. The good news is that it's unreduced, with no chill filtration or colouring.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Nose of gooseberries and muscat grapes, christmas pudding, cloves and custard, dried apricots, dates, blackberry and blackcurrant jam, melting toffee, sprinkled with cinnamon. Some malty notes in the background, heather and bark. On the palate, there are hints of blood orange, raspberry, sultanas and cranberries, quince jelly, candied ginger and exotic spices. The woody caramel adds a certain thickness. Nutmeg. Long finish, earth and bark, dark chocolate, coffee, chicory, forest berries.

 

In Short, 

The Sherry is very intense, and almost completely masks the identity of the distillery. The advantage is that it's very well done, with little rancio, no sulphur and no acidity. It is a very fine product, perfect for Sherry Bomb lovers, at a more or less fair price.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Elsiane - Loneliness

Edradour 2011 Small Batch 12 yo

 

 

 

48,2°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Barbaresco Hogsheads 

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Apparently this Small Batch is the first chapter in a new annual range, as the 2nd bottling, for 2024, is about to be released. Each will be 12 years old, reduced to 48.2° precisely, and aged in a small number of wine casks. In this case, it will be Barbaresco, an Italian red wine produced in Piedmont. For the 2024 vintage, it will be Madeira wine. 8 first-fill Barbaresco casks were used, giving a total of 2921 bottles.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Prunes, soft toffee, Mon Chéri chocolate with the cherry inside, slight but not disturbing acidity, forest undergrowth, raisins, dates, blackcurrant, blackberry liqueur, pine needles, cloves. Smooth and silky on the palate, morello cherries, amarena, raspberries, with notes of earth and warm chestnuts, deep spices, damp bark, mushrooms. Fairly long finish, cocoa powder, genoise, it becomes more pastry-like, with thick caramel, jam, wood, liquorice.

 

In Short, 

It's vinous and intensely fruity, but forestry and earthy notes prevent it from being acidic, so it's quite successful. You do have to like aging in wine casks, though. The price seems a bit high to me, but that must be linked to the originality of the product.

Score : 88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Pinhdar - Murderers of a Dying God

Ballechin 2005 The Ultimate Rare Reserve 14 yo

 

 

 

58,2°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands 

Burgundy Wine Hogshead 

Independent Bottling 

By Van Wees 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2020

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 50 ppm

 

 

 

Edradour is said to be the smallest distillery in the Highlands, with less than 100,000 liters of alcohol per year. They still allow themselves to exploit two brands, the one that bears the name of the distillery, and Ballechin, which brings together peated bottlings, up to 50 ppm. This one spent 14 years in a Burgundy wine cask, before being released in 269 copies. Rare Reserve is a sub-range of The Ultimate collection, which brings out very old things, this one is by far the youngest. It celebrates the 1001st The Ultimate bottling.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The influence of wine is quite rich, plum compote, pears, raspberries, leather, dried fruits, nuts. Nice peat, a little oily, filthy as it should be. It's mellow, and not too sweet, so much the better. Watermelon, dragon fruit, damson. On the palate, it is very red fruits, strawberries, dry earth, rather vegetal. Pomegranate and blackcurrant. Intense spices, paprika, nutmeg, clove. Pleasant finish, charcoal and earth, engine oil and still some red fruits, blackberries and blueberries. Cashew nut. Heather.

 

In Short, 

Very cask-driven, which is often the case with this distillery. That said, it's still decent here. It's neither sour nor too sweet, the distillery markers remain. The peat is very strong, it makes you think of Laphroaig or Port Charlotte. All in all a good winey whisky, unfortunately the price has become too high.

Score : 88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Ride - Leave Them All Behind

Ballechin 10 yo

 

 

 

46°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands 

Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Oloroso Sherry Casks

Original Bottling 

Core Range 

Single Malt 

Launched in 2014

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Peated around 50 ppm 

When Andrew Symington, owner of Signatory Vintage, acquired the small Edradour distillery in 2002, he immediately thought of producing a peated malt. He inaugurated the Ballechin brand, releasing the first batch in 2006, Ballechin The Discovery Series Batch 1, 4 years old. Seven more batches followed, up to the eighth, before this 10-year-old was launched in the summer of 2014. It has since joined the core range.

Let's Taste It : 

Nice, complex nose, with fine, grainy, herbaceous peat, enhanced by a fairly round Sherry. Fruits, but also vegetables, greenery, and a dash of vanilla at the end. Hay. Dry earth. On the palate, the Sherry takes over, it's more sweet, religieuse au chocolat, genoise, melting caramel. Slightly woody, with a bit of varnish and charcoal. Bay leaves. The finish is decent but not exceptional, with just the right amount of length, earthiness and smoke. Cola. Hints of stable. Warm chestnuts.

In Short, 

This bottling gets a bad press, and it's rather undeserved. Admittedly, it's not the maritime peat of Islay, and it's a little earthy, even rustic, but the whole is pleasant, delicious and solid. If you look hard enough, you can find it at a decent price. 

Score : 86

                                          To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                          Faun - Galdra

Edradour 2010 The Un-Chillfiltered Collection 10 yo c. 113

 

 

 

46°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands  

1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt

Independent Bottling 

By Signatory Vintage

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2020

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

In 2020, at the virtual Whisky Live, Edradour's new 10-year-old bottling caused a sensation. It was quickly sold out, and several others were released, with the same recipe and the same label. This one stands out from the rest, as it is supported by the French Connections label, an initiative by La Maison du Whisky to promote certain products on the French market. 700 bottles have been put on sale. Published as part of The Un-chillfiltered Collection, a range of independent bottlings, this is however an original bottling because Signatory Vintage owns the Edradour distillery.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It :

Very liquorous nose, thickened by Sherry, red fruit purée, compote, blackcurrants, redcurrants, damsons. Raspberries, strawberries. Slight acidity. Slightly smoky. The Sherry is as intense on the palate as ever, with a basket of slightly overripe red fruits, blackberry liqueur and grenadine syrup. And spices, of course. Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves. Pleasant, even sympathetic finish, but nothing more, not too long, slightly charred. Wine lees, crushed plums, heather, fern. Loose earth at the end.

In Short, 

I found it very good, intense and flavoursome, but it was saturated with sherry. A good example of the modern practice of leaving a drop of sherry at the bottom of the cask before filling it with whisky. I've always liked the influence of sherry casks, but at some point you have to make a choice, you drink sherry or you drink whisky. The price is quite right for a single cask, even if it is reduced. On the other hand, the quality is not exceptional either. I'm not sure I'd recommend buying it. 

Score : 86 

                                          To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                          Loreena McKennitt - Caravansérail

Edradour 2008 Natural Cask Strength 10 yo

 

 

 

58,7°

Distillery : Edradour - Highlands

1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Casks 

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2018

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

As part of the Ibisco Decanter Series, the distillery regularly releases cask strength bottlings, matured in either sherry or bourbon. This edition, launched in early 2019, is produced in a limited edition of 680 bottles.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Very good balance between vanilla, red fruits and wood. Robust wood covered in splinters, light red fruits, wild strawberries, damsons, but above all intense vanilla, candied, glazed in sugar, accompanied by lemon and other citrus fruits. The palate is similar, leaving the spotlight on the vanilla. Very good finish, pleasant and long enough, once again fruity and woody, more pastry-like, with genoise and caramel. A touch of dry earth and nuts at the end.

 

In Short, 

It is, of course, very friendly and appetising. That said, I find the bourbon casks a little too intrusive and make the whole a bit monochrome, although very pleasant. 

Score : 86

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                                     Scarlet Pleasure - What a Life