Scotland 2019 17: Edradour Distillery

Pitlochry is home to the enormous Blair Athol distillery (part of the even larger Diageo Group); but, nestled in the hills above the town, lies Edradour which - until recently - was Scotland's smallest distillery.  This particular honour has now been lost owing to the advent of micro-distilleries, but it is still pretty tiny compared to the "big boys".  As well as being visually attractive, with distinctive white/red buildings and lots of picket fences, the size of the operation makes it very easy to understand what is going on.  The production of whisky is - quite literally - under a single roof, allowing the visitor to see everything from mill to still, pretty well without moving.

Unusually, the tasting came before the tour on this occasion, but it allowed our guide - Dylan, smartly dressed in a kilt of the Edradour tartan - to provide background information before entering the distillery proper.

As can be seen from the pictures below, everything is under-sized in the Edradour distillery.  The four washbacks are far smaller than would be expected elsewhere, and the distillery is the last in the country to employ a traditional stainless steel "Morton Refrigerator" which uses cold water to chill the wort from the mash tun.

The diminutive mash tun, being fed directly from the output of the mill.

Using Dylan for scale, it's clear that even the stills are pint-sized.