Ballechin 18yo [Batch 001, 2023]

The Maker

Ballechin is the name for the peated variant of whisky from Edradour distillery on the outskirts of Pitlochry in the Highlands. The name derives from the long abandoned Ballechin distillery that operated nearby from 1810 to 1927.

Edradour decided to resurrect the name in 2002. According to Andrew Cameron's short book on the history of Edradour the name was chosen due to the description given by whisky writer Alfred Barnard who said the lost Ballechin distillery was a "quaint, old-fashioned place, cover[ing] one and a quarter acres. It is built on the slope of a hill, in the form of the letter L, and is situated on the high road, three miles from the railway station".

Those who have been to Edradour will doubtlessly see some resemblance between this description and Edradour itself. It being a collection of small, old-fashioned buildings on a hill, just a few miles from Pitlochry train station and the Blair Athol distillery. Sadly, these days it's not possible to visit Edradour as it has been closed to the public since the covid-19 pandemic and by all accounts, has little desire to reopen and spoil the place with people showing up.

This is a great shame for what is one of the most photogenic distilleries in Scotland and home to the much loved Signatory Vintage independent bottler alongside whisky production. This overlap comes from the early 2000s when Signatory boss Andrew Symington purchased Edradour from Pernod Ricard for £5.4m - returning the distillery to Scottish ownership for the first time in 69 years.

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of Edradour. It began life as a farming co-operative at the birth of legislated distilling, and ended up passing through various hands before joining Pernod Ricard in 1982. Andrew Cameron's book (which comes free with purchases of the Edradour 10yo in many UK shops) details the full and fascinating history of the place in a playful way, so I won't spoil that here, however it's well worth a read if you want to find out the role Edradour played in supplying America during prohibition, and get to the bottom of the question of whether the distillery was ever actually owned by the New York Mafia!

Yet despite this grand history, whisky production at Edradour has always been small scale, focusing on quality over quantity. As a result it remains one of Scotland's smallest distilleries with a capacity of between 95,000 and 260,000 litres a year - depending on which sources you read.

In doing so it has become a favourite of whisky nerds around the world who have become accustomed to his high quality output, and no nonsense approach. As such I suspect that many would put Edradour alongside the likes of Springbank, Daftmill and Benromach in their lists of favourites.

The Expression

This is 'Batch 001' of Ballechin's 18yo that was released in April 2023 and purchased in January 2025 for £130 ($175US). Batch 001 was 100% ex-bourbon maturation and released at a cask strength of 50.9%. As you'd expect this is all natural colour and has not been chill-filtered.

This batch is long gone at the time of writing, but was then available alongside the Batch 002 which includes an ex-sherry cask component. While this second batch is still available, at the time I opted for the first release given my preference for ex-bourbon Ballechin - for me peat and ex-bourbon is the best combination.

The Neck Pour

On the nose this is unmistakably ex-bourbon. As a result it's simple, yet also very refined given the age with lots of subtle sugars, straw and vanilla. The peat is also very noticeable but not invasive against the other elements. If I were to compare this to anything it would be a peated version of a well aged Glencadam.

While it's last on the nose it's the peat which hits first on the palate. This is followed by all those classic ex-bourbon flavours that came in a manner which isn't too far from something like the Longrow 18, yet without the additional complexity of mixed maturation.

In practice that means plenty of oil/wax in terms of texture, mixed with a rich smoke and caramel. In short it's very nice, very refined. While I'd say this isn't the best Ballechin I've had, the first impressions are positive. I think what's missing here which I've had from others are the rougher peaty flavours which have long since dissipated given its age. I'm curious as to whether they return as this oxidises in the coming months.

The Body

Six months on it's the peat which leads on the nose. It's still a very refined dram but there is now more of the cask char coming through which is amplifying those vanilla notes, while the grassy flavours are pushed to the back. There’s also a growing acidity to the palate which hints at toasted pineapple. This isn't as strong as something like the 2024 Springbank 18 release (review coming soon), but it's in the same ballpark.

This is a whisky that builds slowly and keeps delivering new things over time.

Final Thoughts

I'm coming to the end of this bottle after around nine months since opening, and I can honestly say I have enjoyed each and every dram. The lower half of the bottle has become all the more briny as that acidity mixes with the peat.

My only complaint would be that I miss that rougher peat which comes from a younger age statement, but you can't have that and the refinement that this dram delivers. Maybe there's a sweet-spot around 15 that I need to find. With the price of whisky these days I'm torn on whether to replace this with a Batch 002 or beyond? £135 is now the asking price, and while that's on a par with many other 18yo at the moment (such as the ever impressive Bunnahabhain 18) it still seems too much for me to justify when there is so much good stuff out there for much less.