March 2012
January 2012
Edradour is the smallest distillery in Scotland and is found near Pitlochry. It is well singposted from there.
You arrive at the enormous car park. This leaves me with a dilema, you are faced with a huge car park, there is no cars there so, firstly I'm thinking 'is the place open', 'do I just stop and check?', where will I park with so much choice' and the inevitable 'is here okay conversation!'
Once at the distillery you are directed to a 'holding' area, which since refurbishment holds a coffee shop/bar. The tour is free and that includes your dram.
The tour itself is very good and there is more to the smallest distillery in Scotland than you would think. The first thing is a video which you can drink your dram too. The only negative point is the corporate spiel and other whiskies in the range bit. However, on the second visit I got the impression that the tour guide thought that too, as we just bypassed it! Suited me.
It always amazes me how the guides have the measure of their visitors. Yes, it's their job but Edradour and Fettercairn have the best guides. When we were going round the room where the grain is lain on the floor to dry we were encouraged to lift the bags of grain just to prove how heavy they are and how much the men have to work to make the whisky. We are also told that they are the only distillery that uses morten refrigeration (http://www.edradour.co.uk/craftframe.html), they only have the capacity to produce 12 casks a week and they don't even produce all year round. So it is a rare whisky to find and best found at the distillery shop or in Pitlochry itself.
The shop is one of the best around. There is a wide range of whisky and liquers, also plenty of merchandise from clothing to diecast trucks. Being a bit of a diecast collector I bought one of the trucks and also one of the whiskies for the old man. It's worth pointing out that the tour doesn't start or finish in the shop, so you don't feel obliged to buy anything.
The whisky itself is a mildly peaty Highland malt, however smoother than you'd imagine for a peaty whisky. I certainly prefer the peaty malts, which luckily is the opposite from my Dad, which involves a steady(ish) flow heading my way.
I will attempt to score the visit.
Tour: 4/5
Price: 5/5
Shop: 5/5
The 'Standard' Malt: 4/5
I would recommend a visit to Edradour. the worst that can happen is that you leave a dram happier for no outlay but at the end of the day, that's just rude!
Further information; http://www.edradour.co.uk/index6.html
The Edradour Malt can be bought by clicking the image below;
