Edradour, the smallest distillery in Scotland, with the smallest stills as well, is now owned by Signatory. So it’s no surprise they are sharing this straight “Ibisco” decanter with the wide stopper.
Marsala, Bordeaux, Port, Madeira, Sauternes, Chardonnay, Sassicaia, Barolo, Moscatel… Edradour will use virtually any type of cask they can lay their hands on. You could even say this first fill bourbon expression is quite a rare “experiment”! Probably the only distillery that can be experimental using very traditional oak…
Edradour 2003 (57,4%, OB 2013, first fill bourbon cask, Ibisco decanter 4th release)
Nose: lemon and vanilla. Some grassy notes and mint. Floral notes too, white flowers and rose petals. Not too bad, not sulphury or anything, quite bright but not very complex.
Mouth: intense, with plenty of alcohol. A firm fruitiness of gooseberries, apples and lemon. Again floral hints, even slightly soapy hints now, hmmm. Fresh, slightly tangy oak. Pepper, ginger and mint. Some mineral notes. Heather honey. Better with water: less fierce, the honey comes out more, and there’s a nice vanilla custard note. But I find the oaky bitterness and floral hints a little distracting.
Finish: quite long, with lemon tea, mint and lots of fresh, bitterish oak.
Good things, bad things… Even though it’s not as boringly modern (or modernly boring) as some other first fill bourbon whiskies, it falls between many stools in my opinion. Around € 65.
Score: 80/100