Whiskeytemple_Vladimir 
Edradour „Barolo“ 8 y.o. single malt whisky
Is it possible a few people to produce in limited quantities one of the most pleasant to the senses whiskey? The answer would probably be „No“, if it wasn’t about one of the exceptions, namely the Edradour distillery, which allegedly engage more employees in its visitor center, than in the production department. And to illustrate my thesis about the quality of the malt distillate, I offer you my notes about Edradour „Barolo“ 8 y.o. single malt whisky, spent its entire existence in Barolo wine casks.
I have already presented a whisky of Edradour /in translation „between two rivers“/, so I will only outline the major events and personalities related to the distillery. It was founded in 1825, although some suggest 1837 as the year of its establishment. It was initially called Glenforres. In the beginning distillate was used for premium blended whiskies, as the main market is US, where the products gain popularity, regardless of the very limited production of several hundred thousands of litres per year. It came to the point that the „distribution“ of the brand was associated with the famous mobster boss Frank Costello from New York, who was engaged in the illicit liquor business during Prohibition in the US. In those years the distillery was an American-owned, and its malt was drank in the form of blended whiskey in the American clubs. Costello, who later headed the Genovese crime family and was close friend of Lucky Luciano, had no problem with „marketing“. His steadily built system of contacts with the government and politicians, to whom he has been giving some other dollar, guaranteed him a dose of comfort, and for competitors he always had prepared pistol magazine. In the following years and with the legalization of alcohol, its mafia hue decreased as after the war a period of prosperity began. In 1947, the distillery was electrified. In 1982 it was purchased by Campbell Distillers, which subsequently transformed into Pernod Ricard and only in 1986, the distillery with the smallest stills launched its first single malt. In 2002 it was acquired by Signatory /an independent bottlers from Edinburgh/, as the company made great efforts to impose the brand using various wine barrels, in which the whisky partially or fully matures. The whisky, which I’ll present you in the following lines is of the second category, as it spent 8 years in Barolo wine casks from the Piedmont Region in Italy. The one that I tried was bottled as a third batch in 2014. I tried this whisky at „Whisky, wine & rum“ – Master test /at the Masterclass of friends from Whisky Experience/ and since I have a small amount of sample available, I’ll refrain from assessment. The whisky is unfiltered and bottled at 46% ABV.
Aroma – spicy, woody, dried dates, with an alcohol smell. Then emerged dried fruits, slight cinnamon, chocolate spread, chocolate topping or icing, strong sweetness, cotton candy, raisins, notes of tropical fruit, but I couldn’t liken it to any particular, nuts, blueberries, oatmeal cookies with chocolate. With water – lots of dried fruits, chocolate, walnut jam, pear marmalade. Taste – sweet, dried fruits, the sweetness is just like in the sweet fortified wines, piquancy, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel. The mouth begins to fill with saliva. With water – the piquancy gives way to the sweetness. Finish – minty sensation, which is felt on the back of the tongue, raisins and sweetness, slight bitterness /maybe cocoa/, which is complemented by the playful and spicy temper of the young whisky, butter notes, prunes and liqueurness, nuts, pears. With water – nothing. I remember that before I wrote the the final lines about the aftertaste after the addition of water, I arranged the bottles and glasses for the article „Whiskey Glasses“ and after some time I finished the whisky, forgetting about the last section. 😀
It does not matter, because I liked the whiskey and I would try it again. Why not repeat myself if I find a bottle of its small stocks. The price in the west is around 65€. Here I guess it would be around and below 100 lv. If we are lucky enough to get bottles of it.
