Scotch Review #73: Edradour 10 Year SFTC Madeira (2006)

Distillery: Edradour

Region: Highland

ABV: 58.6%

Age: 10 Year, Distilled in 2006, Cask #222

Price: $10 for a sample from FineDrams

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Non-Chill Filtered, Natural Color.

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Nose (according to the wife): It’s really strong and harsh. It’s pretty plastic-y with some medicinal notes, a bit of solvent, and hint of malt sweetness.

Palate: There’s lots of caramel as well as some crème brûlée, specifically the bruleed sugar on top of the desert. Some oranges and honey round out palate on this one. It’s incredibly hot though, which makes it a bit hard to drink.

Finish: Medium in length. There’s a nice bit of salty sea air and fresh oak spices along with some pepper.

Conclusion: This is my first crack at an Edradour dram and I probably should’ve read the reviews before I got it. There are parts of this dram that I really like and then parts that are utterly horrific. The nose is awful, it smells like plastic and solvent for crying out loud. The palate is actually fairly nice, though a bit straightforward. The caramel, crème brûlée, and orange work really nicely together. If it wasn’t as hot as it was, if it had sat in the cask for a few more years or been watered down, I think it would’ve been a lot nicer. The finish has a lovely note of sea salt in it which helps this dram from becoming nothing but a sugar bomb. Would I buy a bottle? No. But I will have to try more Edradour.

Final Score: 78.

Scotch whisky review #73, Highland review #18, Whisky Network Review #96

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.