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When it comes to moving with the times, we at Edradour have little to boast about. We're told the Edradour Distillery is unique in Scotch Whisky Distilling today; the last of the Nineteenth Century Farming Co-operatives to operate unchanged since distilling began over 160 years ago. (We must confess that 40 years ago we made an effort to modernise. After some deliberation our waterwheel gave way to electricity). Three of us run the entire operation, and our modest annual output to a week's production at an average Speyside distillery. |
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Generations of distillers have followed the standards set by Edradour's founding farmers, whose records are still in our tiny distillery office. Little has changed since they opened the calf-bound ledger and proudly inscribed that farmers John MacGlashan, Peter Scott, Alexander Forbes, Alexander Stewart, Ducan Stewart, William McIntosh, James Robertson and James Scott "make a new entry and enter ourselves as distillers from malt only under the form of John MacGlashan and Company at Edradour in the Parish of Moulin".
The distillery is a delight to view, nestling in a small glen, high above Pitlochry in the heart of Perthshire. Our soft spring water, originating from deep on Moulin Moor bubbles through peat and granite before surfacing a few hundred paces away. Here in the garden of Scotland we still select and use local barley, which is malted and dried over peat fires. Each and every sack hoisted to our barn is inspected for bold golden grains, full of protein, and with a lightly peated aroma.
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Once milled, the malted barley and water are soaked together at 156F in the Mash Tun, a mere ton at a time. The resulting "wort", already taking on a bronzed straw colour cools gently in our Morton refrigerator - the only one left in Scotland - before flowing to the Washback. Each day a local farmer arrives by tractor to help empty the Mash Tun by hand, and takes away the "Draff" for cattle feed.
Fermentation, in two original Pine Washbacks takes a leisurely fifty-six hours; Brewer's yeast is measured by hand and we patiently wait as the wort ferments not unlike beer into Wash, reaching a strength of about 6 degrees by volume.
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And so we move to the Stillman's role, responsible for so much of the final flavour of The Edradour. Our copper stills are the smallest allowed under Excise regulations - any smaller the theory goes and they'd be hidden away in a hillside.
One visiting journalist described them rather inelegantly as "each having the size and shape of a fatman with a big belly".
But he soon concurred with the old distillers' yardstick that the smaller the still, the finer the taste.
The Wash is then distilled at about 180F, and the resulting low wines, now about 20 degrees, are then redistilled. As we collect here only the middle third - the stillman's skill and keen eye are essential to capture the heart of the run - a totally clear and sparkling crystal spirit now 70 degrees our raw Edradour spirit.
Each of our 4 weekly mashes in our tiny stone built distillery produces 480 gallons of wort and finally yields about 150 gallons of spirit - enough in a good week to fill 12 casks.
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A drop in the ocean perhaps to some distillers but we have always believed that The Edradour has a quality that cannot be matched. We are one of the very few distillers to mature our malt in Oloroso Sherry casks, selected on annual visits to Spain. The Edradour then rests alongside the burn in the damp cool Highland air until we bottle it sometime after its tenth anniversary.
The result we hope you will agree, is a magnificent malt, such as those produced in yesteryear - long before the march of stainless steel and accountants as our competitors often reminisce. Slightly sweet on the nose, it is rich and smooth on the palate with a long lasting warmth. We hope you enjoy The Edradour and we would like to welcome you to the Distillery with a 'drap' of one of our fine Scotch Whiskies. There's nothing quite like a personal visit to take in the rich heady aroma of the stillroom, and we hope you will enjoy a little of the romance and charm of Edradour.
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A warm welcome and a wee dram await you.
Donald Macleod
Distillery Manager
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