Ballechin #6 Bourbon Cask Matured

Ballechin in the peated expression of Edradour, a Highland distillery that was built in 1825. It proudly advertises itself as Scotland's smallest distillery, producing only 6000 gallons of spirit a year. It was bought by Pernod Ricard in 1975 but was overshadowed by its larger stablemates, and was then sold in 2002 to Signatory owner Andrew Symington, who has experimented with different maturations, finishes and cask strength expressions.

Ballechin malts are peated to a minimum of 50ppm. This bottle is their 6th release and is matured solely in first-fill bourbon barrels. 6000 bottles of this no-age-statement whisky were released in 2011. It is non-coloured and non-chill-filtered.

The colour is a pale yellow. On the nose, beautiful mossy peat, lemon meringue and vanilla. Throw in those malty notes and voila - lemon meringue pie! Both herbal and floral - I'm in a heathery garden with a wide variety of mosses, herbs and flowers - and all wrapped in buttery pastry. Water brings the malt forward, with some fresh cut grass. Delightful.

The palate is delicate, less peaty than the nose but with a bit more spice. Oh wait - the peat is building up on the tongue now, with lemon curd, light caramel and…candy floss? Add cayenne and cinnamon. Water tames the spices, allowing the delicate peat to shine through. Great complexity and depth here.

The finish is smoky, meaty and deep with lingering tobacco flecked with black pepper. This is the beauty of non-Islay peated malts, where the smoke is supported by the other elements, in this case citrus and spice. I've been hit-and-miss with Edradour but this malt is fantastic!

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