James Eadie - Teaninich 13yo Refill Marsala Hogshead Cask Finish [UK exclusive]

Nose
Plums, strawberry jam, damsons, raspberries, currants and icing sugar.
Taste

Waxy, well-rounded and fruity, with nectarines, peaches, plums and stone fruits, alongside a hint of cinnamon.

Finish

Full and long-lasting, ending on sweet, syrupy stewed plums.

James Eadie was born into a family of brewers and blenders. So when the famed whisky critic Alfred Barnard visited him in 1889, it was no surprise that they bonded over a dram.

The whisky in question was James Eadie’s family blend. Passed down by his father, it was known as James Eadie’s Trade Mark X from 1877, when it was registered as one of the world’s first brands.

For decades thereafter, James Eadie’s whisky captivated contemporaries. Barnard himself lavished praise on this “ancient Scotch mixture”, of which Mr. Eadie was declared the “fortunate possessor”. Yet like many great names of the Victorian era, it did not survive into the 21st Century.

Last bottled in the 1940s, the components of the blend were unknown until Rupert Patrick, James Eadie’s great-great-grandson, made the chance discovery of his 19th-century ledgers. These records laid bare the spirits that were used to make his family’s celebrated Scotch. Pieced together, they revealed a forgotten blend from a distant era, in which the diverse flavours of every whisky-producing region of Scotland were expertly combined.

Two centuries on, using only whiskies from distilleries which James Eadie himself had purchased from, Norman Mathison, one of Scotland’s finest Master Blenders, was entrusted to revive this ancient Scotch. And so, after a lengthy slumber, James Eadie’s whisky was brought back to life.