Edradour 1997 10 Year Old Sauternes Finish

Edradour is known for its finishes, bottles in the series ‘Straight from the Cask’, meaning this is single cask whisky at cask strength. This one is a challenging 56,6%, 11 years old and received a finish from a Sauternes cask after the regular maturation in a hogshead. Only 451 bottles of 50 cl are available.

Sauternes is a French dessert wine from the Sauternais region in the Graves, Bordeaux, France. It is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle grapes. A very well known, but often expensive Sauternes is the Première Cru Supérieur du Château d’Yquem. It’s profile is a balance between sweet and sour. Now, without further ado…

The nose is not a big surprise: sweetness all around. The sweet wine is very clear, insofar that I actually need to look for the whisky. But after a while you get a whiff of malt, some flowers and grass and eventually the sweetness disappears – only to be replaced by something that defies description except for… cooked cauliflower in butter sauce. Not exactly what you would expect from a whisky. Adding water doesn’t help matters, on the contrary. Now I only get cauliflower in butter, all the sweetness eradicated.

It’s no surprise that the attack of this whisky, at that ABV, is very peppery. But soon, the sweetness returns with soft ‘orange’ fruit, such as apricots and peach. Water does not help this expression.

The finish is dry, peppery and somewhat oaky.

The taste saves this whisky from utter disappointment, but the nose is a serious let down.

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