Edradour 10 Year The Distillery Edition

Nose: Raisins, ethenol, grapes, port or fortified wine, ginger, Licorice, citrus peel, notes of bitter chocolate and oak. Pallet: raisins, licorice, black treacle, nuts. Bitter chocolate and fruits. Acrid tannins and bitter Perfume notes. Finnish: bitter fruit, burnt oranges, soured raisins. Short It’s nice. But feels a little flat. Needs to be higher abv, maybe 46% or ideally 50% to really drive it home.

Apologies in advance. I suspect this will be a rambling review of Edradour 10 Distillery Edition.. I was very intrigued after reading Ctrexman’s wonderful review of this dram. I had Edradour in a tasting 5-6 years ago. I cannot remember many specifics now, but I do know that expression was both sherry and peat free. I recall I enjoyed it, but thought it to be over priced in comparison to others in the tasting. Anyway, after seeing Ct’s review I searched for a bottle of Edradour 10 in my KC area. The lowest price I found was $55, the highest was $72, and they were hard to find. It is just as described by Ctrex, dark as a cola or a dark rum in the nosing glass. A nose redolent of malt, sherry notes of aged fruit of raisin, date, and fig. These are evident in the mouth along with a wonderful heavy oiliness. There is also a little vanilla and barrel char. This IS NOT the dram I sampled a few years back. I agree with Ct that this bottle seems older than a 10. Tasting it beside a Glendronach 12 the Glend sherry influence seems “fresh” in comparison---this Edradour comes across as older fig and date. Apparently Edradours fortunes and reputation have greatly improved since Andrew Symington purchased it in 2003. He is reputed to strive for the best quality and many experimental expressions. One account I read stated it use to be referred to as “EDRASORE” in reference to the poor quality before his take-over. Their website states there are 4 in the classic range, 6 cask strength, 11 wine finishes, 4 wine matured, and 5 heavily peated expressions. According to “Malt Yearbook 2020” they opened a new distillery on site in 2018 allowing a doubling of production. Maybe when I am 80 years old some of those other expressions will be available to me here. Right now I can only find their flagship 10 yo. Most of their malt has no peat, and on the occasions they do use peated malt the distillation is done only in the original still house. I hope the literature I have found is accurate on these facts. Drams I really enjoy on a regular basis I tend to buy by the case. My local small town mom/pop shop gives me a case discount. They got a case of six Edradour 10 for $50 per bottle for me. I am a happy old man.

Nose outstanding, taste was too subtle for me but I can understand why people really enjoy it