Edradour Week comes to a close with another 10 yo from an oloroso sherry cask. But this is completely different from Monday and Wednesday’s 10 yo and 11 yo oloroso sherry casks, you see, as it was distilled in the year in between and not bottled for Specs. All kidding aside, I don’t really expect this to be very different from the other two. Which is not to say that Monday’s 11 yo and Wednesday’s 10 yo were identical: between the slight variations and Edradour’s idiosyncratic qualities it should at least be interesting to track the profile across another cask.

Edradour 10, 2009 (55.8%; oloroso sherry cask #2; from a bottle split)

Nose: Clearly a sibling of the other two but the nutty/beany thing is in far greater evidence here off the top. Below that is the usual oloroso complex of raisins and citrus peel. On the second sniff there’s quite a bit of oak. As it sits the oak recedes and the fruit begins to come through more fully: a lot of dried orange peel and some apricot and not as much red fruit as in Wednesday’s 10 yo. A few drops of water bring out some dry notes along with some salt and earth.

Palate: The oak is thankfully not very pronounced on the palate as the sweeter notes take the lead. The texture is rich and it’s very approachable at full strength. A hint of sherry separation as I swallow. The spicy notes from the finish creep up earlier on the second and third sips. That fleeting sherry separation from the first sip doesn’t make a reappearance as it comes back together nicely. With more time and air the oak expands a bit—let’s see if water knocks it back or causes it to expand further. Hmm it seems to cause it to expand: spicier now and a bit out of balance.

Finish: Long. The oak builds here but it’s not out of balance—there’s just rising spice/pepper as it goes. As on the palate with water and more so: the oak gets quite bitter here.

Comments: Until I added water I was enjoying this a bit more than the others. If you have a full bottle I’d suggest being a little cautious with dilution. On the whole, though, I see no reason to change the score for this one either.

Rating: 87 points. (But hold the water.)