What is small and has red doors?
That's right: The Edradour Distillery. The pretty distillery on the outskirts of Pitlochry, with its striking red doors in the low, whitewashed buildings, is probably one of the most photographed motifs in Scotland. And the most visited whisky distilleries. There are only three men who make the whisky in one of Scotland's smallest distilleries. Lovingly handcrafted, single malt is produced here using traditional methods. Vanishingly small 12 casks weekly. But you now need 20 guides to take care of the around 100,000 visitors a year.
Incidentally, here at Edradour they also have the smallest stills - right on the border of legality. If the copper pot stills were any smaller, they would be considered portable under Scottish law. That would be forbidden. And Edradour with it an illegal moonlighting. For a long time, Edradour was considered the smallest whisky distillery in Scotland. Smaller projects have meanwhile outperformed her. Where the entrance sign once said "The smallest distillery in Scotland" (the smallest distillery in Scotland), it now boasts "Scotland's little gem" (Scotland's little gem). We also find a suitable title when you have the excellent single malt whiskys from Edradour in your glass. The owner Andrew Symington has good contacts in the wine industry, which is why Edradour whiskys are often aged in outstanding sherry, port, white wine and other wine casks.
For fans of smoky Scotch Whiskies, Edradour has the Ballechin Single Malts. The strongly smoky Highland Whisky can certainly step into the ring with its siblings from the island of Islay. Smoke fans should definitely try this malt.
What does Edradour mean? The translation for Edradour is: Between two waters.
Where is Edradour? The Edradour Distillery is located on the outskirts of the picturesque Highland town of Pitlochry. This in turn lies at the foothills of the Cairngorm National Park in the central Highlands. Edradour is therefore a flawless Highland Whisky.
3 reasons to love Edradour
1) Because small is beautiful.
2) Because it's no coincidence that this distillery is so popular.
3) Because the small distillery has big character.
picture credits/ source of photos: Leon Schuster, Malt Mariners
A bit of history about Edradour
The beginnings of the distillery go back to 1825, when it was probably founded by a cooperative of farmers. The official founding and first documented mention dates back to 1837. Two milestones in the history of the distillery, which still looks like a small farm today, are two in particular: In 1947, Edradour was connected to the public power grid. In 1986 the first bottling appeared as a single malt. Since 2002 the distillery has belonged to Andrew Symington, who operates as an independent bottler with his company Signatory Vintage Scotch whisky Company Ltd. has made an excellent name in the whisky world.
How does Edradour whisky taste?
Edradour malts have their own fascinating character. Sweet malt, almonds, caramel & biscuits and various spices. The oak influence is often clearly noticeable, as Edradour handles very exciting wine barrels. The bottlings under the distillery name Edradour are not smoky, while the Ballechin bottlings are heavily peated and heavy smoky.
Our Edradour recommendations
Edradour only has a very small standard range, which, however, already trumps most major Scotch whisky brands in terms of quality. The only regularly available Edradour single malts are the mild Edradour 10 years and the sherry bomb Edradour 12 years Caledonia. Both are highly recommended. The same applies to the smoky sibling, the Ballechin 10 years.
Lovers of intense whiskys from the sherry cask should reach for the Edradour 10 year old single cask bottlings from Signatory. The premier class of Edradour can be found in the Straight From The Cask (SFTC) bottlings. These fine whiskys are not diluted with water and are bottled straight from the cask. Delivered in small wooden boxes, they also look good. More Scotch whisky is not possible!
Facts & figures about Edradour
Address: Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5JP, Scotland
Founded: probably in 1825 by a farming cooperative
Owner: Andrew Symington (Signatory)
Status: active
Region: Highland Whisky
Whisky Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Smoke Level: Unpeated & heavily peated 50ppm
Water: Mhoulin Moor
Mashtun: 1.1 tons
Washbacks: 8, Douglas Spruce
Fermentation: 48 - 96 hours
Stills: 2 wash stills (4,218 l), 2 spirits stills (2,179 l)
Capacity: approx. 200,000 liters
Visitor Centre: Yes
Telephone: +44 (0)1796 / 472 095
Website: www.edradour.com
Directions to the Edradour Distillery
