Edradour SFTC Port cask 12 yr

After some hectic business travel to start the week I arrived home on Wednesday evening in the mood for a relaxing dram, so I pulled out my tray of samples. Edradour Ballechin Port Finish.  A nice port finished Highland.  While it sounded lovely, a relaxing dram this is not.  Sometimes it pays to do a little research before pouring. This whisky is PEATED.   To put it in perspective: Laphroaig 10 and Arbeg 10 are peated.  This whisky is PEATED.  But here's the wonderful thing - as strong as the peat is, it's a beautiful, barbeque, meaty, campfire peat smoke. There's not a touch of ash or bitterness to be found. Moving beyond the peat...Quite simply, balance is not the intent here.  The peat is dialed so high that everything else is pushed into the background.  The port finish does supply a nice touch of berry sweetness, but I found it difficult to identify more specific notes.  In fact, had I been tasting this blind, I would have done no better than concluding it had been finished in wine barrels.  Regardless, it's an exciting whisky, and can be comfortably consumed neat.  I tried adding a bit of water to see if the port notes would become more prominent, but despite toning down the peat - just slightly- the overall profile was unchanged.   The following night, I decided to break out a sample of the only other port-finished peated whisky I had on hand for comparison - Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013.   I found the peat in the Edradour to be both stronger and more enjoyable, with the Laphroaig trending more towards ash.  That's not to say the Edradour is a better overall whisky; the Laphroaig is complex, balanced, and plays in a different league.  But I would not have expected a Laphroaig to take second place in a peat contest with a Highlands upstart. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for the awesome sample!  The Edradour Ballechin Port Wood is a unique whisky experience, and one that would likely have stayed completely under my radar.

Another one in our lineup from last night’s tasting at @Richard-ModernDrinking ‘s. This is a 12 yr heavily peated fully port cask matured Highlander by Edradour’s Ballechin line. Generally, my opinion is you can’t go wrong with peat + port. Something about smoky and fruity. This here is no exception. Coming in the middle of the ranks in yesterday’s tasting, it showed tastes of smoky berries, grilled meats. It’s strong. At cask strength, it comes at you quite like a freight train. I honestly had to add an equal amount of water just to be able to take it. What’s surprised me was that this was more forceful than the Octomore despite the Octomore’s 2 less years, more ABV, and more ppm . @LeeEvolved you’re a fan if peat + port as well I think—-this might be right up your alley