A Bit of History
Edradour was founded in 1825 by a group of local farmers under the name of Glenforres. The group would later form John MacGlashan & Co. and operate under that name. It was built within farm buildings in the hills outside the Highland town of Pitlochry. The name was changed to Edradour in 1837 to reflect the distillery’s proximity to the Edradour Burn.
In 1933, William Whiteley & Co. purchased Edradour due to the quality of its malt whisky and popularity with blenders. Later, the early 1980s saw significant change – Pernod Ricard took control, built a visitor centre and released the first ever single malt.
The current owners, the independent bottling company Signatory Vintage, picked up the baton in 2002. They have grown the range of single malts, raised the distillery’s profile and tripled the spirit production in recent years. However, the visitor centre is currently closed, having never reopened after the Covid pandemic.
Background
Throughout much of its history, the single malt from Edradour was consumed by local people in the Highlands or sold for use in blends. The robust style of the spirit, which is made in the smallest legal size of still, made it desirable to blenders. Edradour was famously an ingredient in the King’s Ransom blend, which counted Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin as fans.
Edradour single malt did not appear on the market until 1986. The current owners, Signatory Vintage, are one of the most active to experiment with maturation in different casks from different origins. This includes Port, Sauternes, Madeira, Burgundy, Chardonnay and Super Tuscan red wine and a plethora of other spirit casks.
The Geeky Bit
The former smallest distillery in Scotland was expanded in 2018 and now produces 340,000 litres of spirit per year. This is spread across two sites – the old farm distillery and the new extension. There are two mash tuns, each with a 1.1-ton capacity. They run one mash per week in the old distillery and two per week in the new.
There are eight wooden washbacks in total with two fermentation times operated – one short at just 50 hours and one long at 120 hours. There are a pair of stills in each stillhouse. Edradour’s classic new make spirit is unpeated but for a short period each year they distilled a heavily peated single malt spirit. This is named Ballechin (pronounced bal-ee-kin).
One To Buy | Edradour 12 Years Old Caledonia
This bottling forms part of Edradour’s compact core range and is inspired by Dougie Maclean’s famous song, Caledonia. It is released in small batches but is a constant within the range. Initial maturation is in ex-bourbon casks, and this is followed by a lengthy secondary maturation of five years in ex-Oloroso sherry casks.
Expect plenty of richness and sweetness with honey drizzled dried fruits (especially raisin, sultana and fig) to the fore. Robust malt, milk chocolate and cocoa notes add depth, while baking spices (think of cinnamon and nutmeg) add late dryness and complexity.
