Every so often a bottle lands on my table that forces me to reckon with the question of value, and the Edradour Caledonia 12-year-old is exactly that kind of dram.
Bottled at 46%, natural colour, and non-chill filtered, this is a whisky released in collaboration with musician Dougie MacLean, who penned the song “Caledonia” back in 1977 while homesick in France. The whole story is printed across the bottle and box, and while it makes for lovely reading, I have to be honest, I wish there was a little less marketing and a little more information about what’s actually in the glass.
Because what’s in the glass is genuinely good. The nose gives off a wet rock kind of vibe, layered with lovely sherry notes that immediately reminded me of GlenAllachie 12. That similarity was so striking that I found myself wondering whether the two distilleries share a source for their sherry casks.
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READ THE STORYOn the palate, you get rich, red fruit-forward flavours, not so much on the dark chocolate side, though there’s a hint of that lurking on the back end. The finish is where it shines, with lingering sherry notes that tell you these were excellent casks. Edradour usually delivers on that front, and this is no exception.
Here’s the rub, though. Whenever I taste a 12-year-old, I automatically hold it up against GlenAllachie 12, and that comparison is a tough one to win. The GlenAllachie is one of those bottles I always keep a backup of, because at around $80 it’s one of the best-balanced whiskies on the market.
When you nose it, the sheer cleanliness stands out, and bringing the Edradour back afterwards revealed something slightly odd by contrast, along with a bready, malty note I tend to get from whiskies that are mostly sherry cask. The Caledonia sits closer to $120, and justifying an extra $40-$50 is difficult when its rival is so reliable.
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So where does that leave me? I’m scoring the Edradour Caledonia an 86. It’s a more full sherry experience than the GlenAllachie, which is beautifully balanced rather than fruit-forward. If you value a diverse bar and enjoy pouring people different things to explore, this is absolutely worth picking up, and I genuinely think you’ll enjoy it start to finish. But is a fuller sherry profile worth the premium over a proven benchmark? I’d love to hear where you land on that.
To see me tasting this Edradour sherry bomb, check out my YouTube video.
