2005 Edradour Ballechin Straight from the Cask 11 Year Old Bordeaux Cask #378 Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (500ml)

Distilled in September 2005, cask #378 previously held red wine from Bordeaux yielding 399 bottles at natural strength. It's described as seductive, sweet and fruity with notes of strawberry jam, milk chocolate, leather, sweet tobacco and perfectly integrated alcohol. 53.4% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

“Ballechin” is the heavily peated version of Edradour and comes matured in a wide variety of wood types. The name originates from a fellow Perthshire farm distillery, which sadly closed its doors in 1927. Alfred Barnard, who catalogued all the distilleries in the UK in the 1880’s, made reference to having tasted a peated dram there. The new-age Ballechin is a whisky born out of experimentation but has attained a quasi-cult status in a relatively short time. When Edradour was bought in 2002, Andrew Symington called on the services of Iain Henderson, the former director of Laphroaig to create a second, very peaty malt. Available since 2006 and employing barley peated at a whopping 50ppm - a rate comparable to the smokiest malts of Islay - "Ballechin" was initially sold as a yearly vintage in limited runs of 6000 bottles. There’s now a broader variety available, including private and exclusive bottlings, however the cask strength editions are the most sought after. They remain small-scale single cask releases available in Australia sporadically throughout the year.