Edradour 2006 (8 year old) 46%
Aged in Super Tuscan Hogsheads – 24 casks, 2450 bottles
Dist: Mar/ Apr 2006 Btl: Apr 2014/ Tasted: Sept 2014
Quite a rich, slightly butyric nose of red cherry, bitter chocolate, herbal spice and herbal infused citrus. The herbal notes develop into an almost rye-like herbal character and with time a little wood smoke emerges. Quite interesting.
The palate is again herbal and rye-like with lots of tannin and a touch of redcurrant/ cherry. Oh, my, god! The middle is so mouth puckeringly dry and bitter. I love the fruit, but I don’t love the oak! As for the finish, well, that’s almost painful!
A drop of water makes the nose very manure and earthy. Really stinky now with the fruit becoming very straw-like. Thankfully the palate is a lot less bitter and the fruit has become quite jammy. Although the bitterness has receeded it’s still pretty dry and woody. However some lovely, sweet spices has come through. I think you really need to be in the right mood for this dram!
Edradour 2003 (9 year old) Bourbon Cask ‘3rd Release – Natural Cask Strength’ 57.6%
Bourbon – Limited Edition of 2068 Decanters
Dist: 2003 Btl: 2012/ Tasted Sept 2012
A soft, youthful nose with what appears to be plenty of new oak vanillins. Very buttery and full with hints of apricot, white fruit and a lovely citrus seam. However the oak is the dominant them, which with time becomes quite custardy.
The palate mirrors the nose. Very full and very oaked – toffee, fudge and caramel, again with a hint of white fruit and a fresh citrus note. Slightly tropical middle with banana, apricot and sweet spices. Good length with the oak lingering. A drop of water emphasises the butter and citrus on both the nose and palate.
Edradour 10 year old 40%
Tasted: May 2005
Clean, youthful, oily nose. Quite weighty with charming heather, biscuits, toasted honey, dry sherry and citrus fruit. Medium-Sweet with honey, heather, quite viscous, and medium bodied. Very floral on the middle with a nice tangy length with the oak appearing on the finish. Good length with a long heathery after taste. – A bit sweet for my tastes but lovely nevertheless.
Edradour 10 year old 40%
Re-Tasted: June 2015
Aromas of succulent sherried dried fruit – prune, apricot, sun dried raisin and walnut with hints of smoke and heather. Relatively sweet but not too sweet with some bold malty notes.
The palate is thick and viscous, possibly a little underpowered with plenty of sweet dried fruit with treacle, burnt raisin, malt and Demerara sugar. Crisp almost sharp finish as the citrus arrives along with a touch of heather, violet and late wood smoke. Still the sweetness remains and some dry tannins and bitter coffee can be discerned in the after-taste.
Edradour 2003 (10 year old) Port Cask Matured 46%
Batch 1/ CM ’03 #1/ Dist: 2003 Btl: 2014/ Tasted: Apr 2015
Dense, saturated aromas of apricot and thick, set honey. Hints of pear, honeydew melon and barley follow. Lightly herbal with hints of taught, but lightly toasty oak. With time the herbal notes come through strongly.
The palate is oily with a profusion of oak vanillins. A little tannic but those tannins are wonderfully chocolaty and spicy. Not quite as exuberantly fruity as the nose as the oak is taking the edge off. Finish: Long with a light mouth-watering citrus note and lingering toasty oak, dry tannins. In conclusion: If the oak hadn’t taken the edge of the palate this would have scored higher. Also now knowing it was port matured I would have expected more ‘port’ character as well; however it is still a very enjoyable dram! [tasted blind]
Edradour 2003 (11 year old) Port Cask Matured 46%
Batch 2/ Dist: Jun/ July 2003 Btl: Mar 2014/ Tasted: Sept 2014
The nose is rather dry and dusty with oily red fruit and grape aromas. Hints of icing sugar, marzipan and dark chocolate follow with a touch of herbal syrup.
The palate opens with plenty of herbal accented redcurrant/ berry and then here comes the oak….. Oh, my, god! That’s bitter, now that was surprising! Not! The syrupy fruit attempts to balance and that bitterness merges into liquorice and dark chocolate notes. It’s not quite as bitter as the Super Tuscan, but it’s not far short.
Edradour 12 year old ‘Caledonian Selection’ 46%
Sherry/ Tasted: July 2011
The nose is heavy on the leafy sherry with a touch of sulphur. The aromas are all from the cask – dried fruit, orange peel and spices. The sweet honey and heathery nuances of the 10 year old have been crushed by the hobnail boot of Oloroso sherry casks.
The palate mirrors the nose.– Sulphur tainted, leafy, mentholated sherry and piquant alcohol. Cask 1 Distillery Character 0.
Edradour ‘The Fairy Flag’ 15 year old 46%
Tasted: Mar 2015
Deep, soft aromas of Oloroso sherry along with hints of liquorice, tobacco, treacle, burnt brown sugar and a subtle herbal character. With time some dusty spice emerges.
The palate is soft, juicy and pretty much mirroring the nose. Oloroso, tobacco, liquorice, dried plum, date, walnuts, soft spice and a touch of violets. The spices become increasing tannic and drying on the middle. Long and quite succulent as the treacle arrives to balance the drying spices. In conclusion: pleasant, complex malt with all the character derived from the sherry cask. Although spotlessly clean I find it ultimately unexciting.
Edradour 2002 (11 year old) Straight From The Cask, Chateauneuf-du-Pape Finish 58.9%
Bourbon Hosgsheads, finished for 3 years in ex- Chateauneuf-du-Pape Hogsheads
Dist: May 2002 Btl: Mar 2014/ Tasted: Jan 2015
Quite a primal but not raw nose of dense, herbal sherry-like character with hints of crushed grape, mint, thyme, heather, berries and a touch of wheat flakes. Water brings out some mocha notes.
Full, clean, almost sherry-like palate with dried red fruit, prune, walnut, treacle and neat masking alcohol. Water makes it somewhat homogenous as is often the case with these finished whiskies. The finish is a little bitter with some herbal spirit notes coming through to reinforce its youthfulness. Dilution mitigates a little of the bitterness and emphasises the spices.
Edradour 2001 (13 year old) Straight From The Cask Port Wood Finish 56.3%
Dist: Jan 2001 Btl: Feb 2014/ Tasted: Oct 2014
Soft but chunky winey fruit with hints of black olives, cold tea, prunes, figs and cinder toffee. With time distinct aromas of spiced pipe tobacco and roasted Java coffee come through.
The palate is dry and tannic but some dark treacle balances. Hints of Java coffee, prune juice, raisin, herbal accented dried fruit, tobacco and burnt wood follow. The alcohol gives the palate piquancy. Good length with lingering cold tea and burnt coffee grains. The combination of alcohol and tannins make it feel a tad austere.
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 