Edradour 2012 12yo Merlot Finish & Edradour 2012 12yo Cabernet Sauvignon Finish

Edradour 2012 12yo Merlot Finish

Region: Highlands

ABV: 48.2%

Price: £61.95

The casks for this release were filled on 22nd February 2012 and bottled on 23rd January 2025, following a finish in first-fill Merlot casks. 719 bottles were released, drawn from cask numbers #713 and #714.

Nose

The nose opens with quite a floral aroma, rosewater, Turkish delight, blackcurrant cordial, and cracked black pepper in the background. Going back, there’s more soft red and black fruits, it’s like jelly babies coated in icing sugar. There’s very little alcohol on the nose, and we’re getting caramel biscuits coated in chocolate now - quite pleasant. 

Palate

The palate opens with a bit of sulphur, struck match, but that quickly moves into raspberry ripple ice cream, blackcurrant jelly, toffee crisp bars, with a dark chocolate bitterness that rides through into the finish. There’s also more black pepper spice that lingers on the finish, although the finish is quite long. The mouthfeel is decent, there’s some texture here, and we’re getting gingerbread cookies and Turkish delight as we go back for another sip. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels more chocolate forward, even some light milky coffee notes, richer and less floral. There some dark fruit in the background, but the nose feels slightly more one-dimensional now. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate follows suit and has more chocolate, but maintains the fruit from before. The mouthfeel remains unchanged, and there’s still that floral, rose-like flavour coming through. We’d skip water here, we don’t think it benefits the dram. 

Conclusion

Unexpectedly floral, but in a good way. It reminds us a little of the relatively recent Longrow Red 100 Proof release without the smoke. It’s quite spicy, but there’s enough going on to make us forgive that. Quite complex, quite tasty, a well done red wine finish.

Score: 7/10

Value

We’d have loved to see this at cask strength, but even at 48.2%, it still represents decent value.

Edradour 2012 12yo Cabernet Sauvignon Finish

Region: Highlands

ABV: 48.2%

Price: £61.95

The casks for this release were filled on 22nd February 2012 and bottled on 22nd January 2025, following a finish in first-fill Cabernet Sauvignon casks. 1,082 bottles were released, drawn from cask numbers #705, #707 and #708.

Nose

The nose opens with dark fruits, raisins, blackcurrants, blackberries, all with a bit of char in the background. It’s not sweet per se, but there’s a mixture of fruitiness and freshness that is quite inviting. We’re also finding a little chemical-like cough syrup aroma, maybe some menthol too. The alcohol is fairly well balanced and there’s not too much spice coming through for us. 

Palate

The palate opens with blackcurrants, dark cherries coated in chocolate, fizzy wine, think Lambrusco, and date syrup. There’s a richness behind the dram, it’s fairly viscous and we’re getting some rosewater too. The finish lingers on for a while with more chocolate, chocolate coated digestive biscuits to be exact. Going back, we’re finding Parma violets, apple cores and a blueberry jam. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose feels slightly lighter, more effervescent, but moves into something slight meatier, with more leather aromas too. It’s definitely highlighting the heavier Cabernet Sauvignon grape flavours now. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more upfront sugar, and more Parma violet for us. Saying that, it’s quite similar overall, perhaps with a little bit of mouthfeel and texture loss. Still quite pleasant though, but we’d skip water. 

Conclusion

A well done wine cask finish in our opinion. Lots of dark fruits that have integrated well, and less tannin than some other whiskies we’ve tried of the same style. It can be a little simple in places but it’s well made and quite tasty.

Score: 7/10

Value

Like today’s other review, we’d have loved to see this at cask strength, but even at 48.2%, it still represents decent value.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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