When Edradour - the smallest operating distillery in Scotland - peats their spirit, they release it under the label Ballechin, honoring a long-dead distillery of the same name that operated from 1810 to 1927. The original Ballechin was one of the original seven distilleries in Perthshire, Scotland - now, only Edradour is left.
They only started this heavily peated project in 2003, and this bottle is their third official release, from 2008. It's aged an unknown number of years, matured fully in port casks, bottled without coloration or filtering at 46% ABV. One of only 6000 bottles.
I don't have a ton more to say about this one, except that I have never, not once, been disappointed by a bottle from Edradour. Let's explore it:
Nose: What a nose - it's very nice. Preeminent over everything: barbecue ribs and honey. Tropical fruit candy (like those grocery store pineapple slices). Candy apples. Sea salt. Citrus zest and lemon pie filling. Hints of yeasty white wine (I'd guess a tawny port). A thick, smoky strain of peat unveils itself over time. The usual "forest floor" notes I get with Edradour - moss, loam, dead leaves, bark, etc. Golden raisins come and go.
This reminds me of a more transparent, "clean" version of Ardbeg Uigeadail. Whereas Uigeadail is dense as hell and all the flavors come in clusters, this is quite orderly and everything is easy to pick out. Interesting.
With a tiny bit of water: Doesn't really change much. The musty forest-y notes get slightly more intense (spearmint!), the peat goes down one notch, otherwise the same.
Mouthfeel: Like port, actually - quite silky, coats the entire mouth, seems viscous at first, but ultimately not particularly hefty.
Palate: Very slightly disappointing after that lovely nose. This has a cinder-filled barbecue ribs-forward flavor, with some wine notes, some strong and salty peat, a beautiful honey note that is all too brief, and dried golden raisins. The palate arrives and vanishes in a surprisingly short time.
With a splash of water: A little more ash, a little more apple, a little more grape. And... pine sap!! That was unexpected. I would have loved to try this at 50% or higher.
Finish: A nice finish - wine gums, grape must, baking spices, oak, and lemon. Quite long, thanks to the smoke and peat.
Verdict: Quite an elegant little bottle, but seems missing one or two small things that would really lift it into the stratosphere. The parts never quite add up to the whole. Considering this has been out of stores for like 14 years now, I can't exactly recommend anyone go out and find this... but it's a very nice (yet not amazing) little peated thing, a curiosity, worthy of thought and consideration, but that won't quite scratch any particular itch you might have. A truly interesting bottle... but not a satisfying one.
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