Comments on: Review: Edradour “Ballechin (#4), 46%, $100

By: Best in Blog #65: A Different Kind of Whisky Award | Whisky Party

Best in Blog #65: A Different Kind of Whisky Award | Whisky Party — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:19:48 +0000

[...] also has some great tasting notes on the Edradour Ballechin #4, which we got to sample [...]

By: Jason Cretacci

Jason Cretacci — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:28:31 +0000

I love when a single malt has that much going on John. In terms of value for a peated whisky, single or blended, I love the Black Bottle 10 yr. The Smokehead is another great value. I have only had theirs is a Signatory bottle that I thought was OK, but it wasn’t peated, so I would be very interested in trying it.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:19:14 +0000

Hi Red,

Yes Tobermory could do that, as they already produce the Ledaig, and now Bunnahabhain is producing peated malt under the rubric Toiteach and all are owned by Burn Stewart. Personally I am a big fan of Bruichladdich and was disappointed that the Octomore and Port Charlotte products were at such a premium but sometimes I can find the 3D3 still for ok $.

By: Red_Arremer

Red_Arremer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:23:33 +0000

Yep Alex, “the current premiumization trend” is a killer… But who knows, let me make this more concrete. Why doesn’t Tobermory, for instance, a relatively low profile distillery just do as I suggest. It doesn’t have the star power to just jump on the band wagon and successfully market a young price-monster whisky. But I’ll bet if they put out a 5yo with huge peat at reasnoble price a lot of folks would look their way. Their are many other distilleries in similar positions.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:33:43 +0000

I believe they source malt from Port Ellen and primarily age off island but some casks are now ageing on premise to see if the spirit exhibits a different character over time. Think it was mentioned in Malt Whisky Yearbook 2010. Also, the process water has a peaty character I hear.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:24:04 +0000

Thanks for the news Quentin – albeit disappointing – but with luck we’ll see it in the future.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:21:24 +0000

I hear you Red…paying $200 plus or minus for 5 year old whisky is tough. I would be surprised if more expressions with high phenols/lower cost did’nt eventually surface but with the current premiumisation trend, it may be some time…

By: MrTH

MrTH — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:49:04 +0000

I don’t believe Tobermory has malting facilities, so they must buy malt in from the mainland somewhere. I’m sure the commercial maltsters use whatever source of peat is handy.

By: Ernest

Ernest — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:35:18 +0000

I know the Ardmore Traditional Cask is considered average in many whisky circles but I enjoy its softness and contrast to Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the latter three much more but not having tried any Ardmore aside from this one I have to admit I like it quite a bit. That said I can’t wait to try this new Edradour.

By: Red_Arremer

Red_Arremer — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:36:36 +0000

Right, right. None of the ones you mention are “too bad in the scheme of things” at all. In fact, the Peat Monster Reserve is an incredible whisky and a great deal if you can find some.

But, my idea is for something around the peating level of octomore or supernova, but with a price a little more in line with what it actually costs to produce 5 year old whisky– how about a true, absurd young peat monster, in the contemporary style for 50-70$? There’s a growing thirst for that kind of profile and if someone could provide it at a better price I’ll bet lot’s of the people who are spending a load for the overmarketed stuff would make it their bottle of choice.

By: two-bit cowboy

two-bit cowboy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:43:14 +0000

I should have called it Ledaig Traditional Cask (quarter casks, like Laphroaig). Can’t find anything that attributes the source of Ledaig’s peat to Mull. Somewhere along the line I learned that Ledaig casks are sent to the Deanston distillery in the souther Highlands to age then back to Mull for bottling. Can’t find that source right now so not sure that’s still true. Maybe somebody on this site that’s closer to the source could clarify some of this for us all.

By: Quentin

Quentin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:32:15 +0000

I’ve corresponded with Bowmore and with Skyy (their importing partners) about the 10 year old Tempest. They do not have plans to export it to the US this time around, but may consider it for future bottlings of Tempest.

By: Whisky Party

Whisky Party — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:55:42 +0000

Yes, I’ll caveat my dislike of Black Bottle in two ways. First, I’ve only had the no age statement version. The 10 was never available in my area (at least not when I was actively looking for it).

Second, I think the NAS Black Bottle is a fine whisky, just not peaty enough for me in terms of being a solid, cheap substitute for a Laphroaig, Caol Ila, Ardbeg or Lagavulin.

Bunnahabhain is the base single malt in it, and that’s just not to my taste. Perfectly good whisky though if that’s the style you are interested in. It’s all a matter of degrees.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:52:09 +0000

Two-bit Cowboy, thanks for getting the thread back to the Edradour (not, I hope, that the drift was bad). I have a soft spot for Edradour because of their size and interesting experimentation. So, I likely would have made a point of trying this asap anyway. That you ranked it above Ardmore Trad and Ledaig 10 is further motivation. I like that Highland peat. (Do they use local peat for the Ledaig?)

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:47:50 +0000

Scotch aged in a cask previously holding scotch – novel. Anyone remember the Balvenie Islay cask?