Edradour Ballechin 17 Year Old Burgundy Cask Cask Strength 2005/2023 Burgundy Casks Cask Strength 53.5%

Ballechin 2005/2023 Burgundy Cask is an intensely peat-smoked single malt from Edradour Distillery. Distilled in 2005, it was aged for 17 years in first-fill Burgundy hogsheads (casks 327 and 334) and bottled in July 2023 in a limited run of 2,103 bottles. Reviewers praised the complex layering of the wine casks, its rich flavors of dark fruits (cherry jam, plum, blackcurrant, and blackberry), its intense peat smoke, burnt licorice, and smoked leather, and its medium-bodied mouthfeel with savory and tart smoky notes. This non-chill-filtered, uncolored whisky offers a powerful yet varied profile rivaling even higher-priced peated malts, making it a highly appealing bottling for Highland whisky lovers who appreciate funky cask character.

Flavor Profile: The nose offers deep red wine oak aromas layered with sulfur, cherry, pitted prune, burnt barbecue, and menthol-like peat. The palette offers red and black fruit (orange, fig, raspberry) with cinnamon spice, cola, and lactic yogurt notes, plus an industrial sulfurous note balanced by a medium level of smoke. The finish is medium to moderately long, offering nuances of orange, fig, minerality, and red berries, all lingering with a sweet-tart, smoky finish.

It has received very high ratings and critical acclaim, and is rated for its superior barrel integration and flavor complexity, even compared to similar peated and wine barrel-aged bottles. Other Ballechin Burgundy barrel-aged bottles also often receive ratings of around 8.5/10 for their combination of layered fruit, smoke, and savory notes. Among enthusiasts, the heavy peating, reportedly over 50 ppm, and the relatively limited release volume are hot topics.

Aged for 17 years and finished in burgundy casks, this is a bottle for those who like the character of heavy peat and wine casks.