The Pitlochry Pentathlon

Edradour: Straight From the Cask (Various)

Small distillery, big ideas

Edradour has always struck me as a bit of an odd duck. My first taste of what this distillery has to offer was the standard 10yo bottling; to be honest, I thought it was a bit crap. Not terrible, mind, just a little worse than average. For ages I pretty much blocked Edradour from my whisky radar.

The years pass. I got a little bit older (not much wiser) and I happened upon a video review of the 2003 Bourbon Cask release. Being a sucker for a good-looking decanter, I snapped up a bottle and was blown away. Every so often I would stumble upon another expression here and there and, to my surprise, they were all pretty damned good. We get to Christmas 2013 and a friend rocks up to my house with a gift of the SFTC Eilean Dubh. Zero subtlety but hugely entertaining, I promised myself I would check out the rest of the SFTC range, and so here we are; five examples of what that petite, picture-postcard, Pitlochry distillery can do.

Aiding me on my journey of discovery, fresh from an eight week tour of Osama Bin Laden's favourite hiding spots, is the ever elusive Agent X.

10yo - 2002 - Sherry Cask #459 - 57.3%

Nose:

Immediate sting from the high alcohol content but settles into chocolate, cherries and sweet sherry. Give it a chance and it turns herbal with basil and sweet sage.

Palate:

Caramelised red peppers and a touch of soapiness. Flecks of chilli for the main course with drying oak for dessert.

Finish:

Long, spicy and warming with a generous amount of wood.

Thoughts:

Feisty, a million miles away from complex but unmistakeably Edradour. Fairly similar to the Eilean Dubh but a little sweeter and less soapy. Overall, it's big but not terribly clever. Over to Agent X for some words of wisdom.

12yo - 2000 - Sauternes Cask Finish - 56.8%

Nose:

Again, the strength attacks your nostrils at first but soon clears away, leaving a distinct aroma of Eiswein. Honeysuckle and other floral treats but there's nothing really dominating.

Palate:

Buttery with ripe vine fruits and warming cinnamon. A little one-note and muddled, although it's rich, sweet and pleasant enough.

Finish:

Sweet, sticky and medium in length. Very light wood and even lighter spice; the kind you'd find in a summer pudding.

Thoughts:

Very agreeable, especially with a few drops of water. Hard work if you want to pull out individual notes; there's quality in there but so difficult to put your finger on anything too specific. What does our guest reviewer have to say?

11yo - 2002 - Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cask Finish - 58.5%

Nose:

Pungent balsamic note with a surprising amount of butter toffee. A little surprised here as the red fruits I would normally expect from a red wine finish are conspicuous by their absence.

Palate:

Sharp sweetness with thick, treacly vine fruits. Eton Mess with fizzy strawberry chews. Evidently the red fruits were hiding at first; they're making up for lost time now.

Finish:

Slightly savoury and drying with red wine tannins (surprise surprise) and black pepper. Exceptionally long.

Thoughts:

I like this. It's not bowling me over but there's a subtle quality to it. My favourite thus far. What about you, X?

10yo - 2002 - Marsala Cask Finish - 57.6%

Nose:

Oozing with thick,creamy toffee and aromas of nutmeg and speculoos biscuits. Candied fruits and a quick flash of orange sorbet.

Palate:

Chewy and sticky with a nod to decent Cognac. Caramel (the good kind), a smidgeon of coriander and bags of wood shavings. Hide the hamster.

Finish:

Lingering sweetness with contrasting woody astringency. It ebbs and flows and shows great poise and balance.

Thoughts:

Very capable. There's sweetness, certainly, but an underlying earthiness and enough wood to complete the picture. A few steps short of greatness but I'd happily have a bottle. This probably pushes the spirit as far as a cask finish can. Still conscious over there, X?

11yo - 2002 - Barolo Cask Finish - 58.9%

Nose:

Dry, spicy and savoury with huge amounts of red berries. A little patience rewards you with pomegranate seeds and, strangely, green peppers.

Palate:

Dark fruits, walnuts and tea. Tannins aplenty but surprisingly little wood. I'm starting to think that my palate is suffering from Cask Strength overload.

Finish:

Spicy fiesta of chilli and cayenne with dry, dry, ever-so-dry, grape skins. Medium in length and savoury right at the death.

Thoughts:

A good one to finish on. I dare say this may have been a little full-on earlier in the batting line-up. Admittedly my palate is a little shot but I'd still say this shows real quality and is possibly the most complex of the evening. I wouldn't say this is first past the post but you'd certainly get your money back on an each-way bet. Let's see if Agent X will stop harassing the TV presenter for a moment and give us his verdict.

Final Thoughts:

What strikes me the most here is just how bloody versatile the Edradour spirit is. It lends itself very well to experimentation and I can see a Ballechin tasting in my immediate future.

I've avoided giving grades to these whiskies because, truthfully, there's not a great deal to separate them. Each has its own positives and negatives and which one appeals to you depends very much on personal taste. 

If you want complexity, go for the Barolo. The Marsala gives the most balanced experience and the Chateauneuf-du-Pape has an understated quality to it that makes me want to go back for more. If I had to be brutal, I'd say the standard sherry cask is the weak link in the chain; it's nothing you won't have had before and there are plenty of other good CS sherry bombs out there at the same price (and in 700ml bottles).

My thanks to Agent X for his words of wisdom.