Discover the Edradour distillery
Discover the Edradour distillery
Whisky d'Écosse
Located in a picturesque Speyside village, the Edradour distillery sits nestled at the bottom of a valley traversed by the stream after which it is named. Its pagoda seemingly emerging from the very fields and pastures, Edradour is accessible via a narrow road bordered by low stone walls. Surrounded by forests, the whitewashed buildings, red doorframes, and bursting flower-beds give the site a simple, seductive charm.
The authentic, unadorned atmosphere reflects the day-to-day life of the distillery’s employees, who have been working out of sight since Edradour closed to the public in 2020. For those who have visited, however, the memory remains: the heady scent of malt and the sheer scale of the cellars remain etched in their minds.
◊ A quirk of Edradour: two distilleries share the valley. To increase production capacity, Edradour II was opened across the river in 2018. There’s no use in trying to spot any technical differences between the siblings: to ensure that the house style is preserved, the newer distillery’s fermentation vats and stills are perfect replicas of the older’s.
◊ Another curiosity of Edradours I and II is a traditional cooling system known as ‘Mortons refrigerator.’ This device, made up of metal plates, cools the wort before fermentation using only cold water. Though once widespread, Edradour is the only distillery which uses a Mortons refrigerator today.
◊ Stretching over 500 yards in length and remaining cold and humid even in warm weather, the cellars house whiskies from Edradour, Ballechin, and Signatory Vintage. Strolling from one warehouse to the next, one is struck by the incredible variety of casks — of all origins, sizes, and ageing styles — organised according to a system known only to the proprietors.
◊ An introduction to the distillery, which earmarks the bulk of its production for limited editions: the 10-year-old Ballechin and Edradour are a lovely duo of peated and unpeated siblings.
◊ The multitude of batches are aged in sherry, port, madera, or French and Italian wine casks. Reflections of Andrew Symington’s passion for winemaking, they will charm enthusiasts of atypical ageing styles.
◊ The stream which crosses the property, Edradour Burn, is the site of many a bucolic ramble around the distillery. Although there is no official path that strictly hews to the stream, a well-marked looping trail crosses through the forest and leads up to the Black Spout waterfall.
◊ Not far from Edradour, some vestiges of the Ballechin distillery remain. Founded in 1810, the distillery closed in 1927 after its water source was rerouted. In 2002, Andrew Symington revived the name for his peated single malt.
◊ The best soundtrack for a tasting is undoubtedly the song Caledonia, after which Edradour’s eponymous bottling was named. With its evocative lyrics, this song — written in 1977 by Scottish folk music composer Dougie MacLean — references the old Latin name for Scotland, and has become the country’s unofficial national anthem.
Edradour, Single Malt
Edradour, Single Malt
