Bruichladdich's is the second to least peated Islay malt, after the unpeated Bunnahabhain. But newer versions from the distillery, called Port Charlotte and Octomore are plenty enough peated to make up for what could be lacking in the Bruichladdichs. I am going to have a Port Charlotte Vertical later on, but this will do for now. And btw, the question I asked a post or two ago, on wether Ardmore is a Highland or Speyside distillery.. Well, many sources seems to say it's a Speyside Distillery, and just as many claims it to be a Highlander. (yes, and I know Speyside is in the Highland district, but you get my point...) Since I'm no geography expert I've just let the distillery decide, and they do refer to themselves as a Highland distillery. But back to Islay, and Bruichladdich, and 4 different decades of distillation.
Bruichladdich 14yo 1991-2005 46% OB WMD II The Yellow Submarine
One named to pay tribute to a Submarine discovered on the shores of Islay, probably from the 2nd world war. It has got nothing to do with that beatles song. Honey golden color. Smells light and herbal, some smoke and some cinnamon as well as milky way and toffifee, a sweet sensation. The taste is again very herbal, notes of bitter herbs like aubergine, yarrow and dandelion. There is little to no peat and coastal flavors in this one, and to say my honest opinion, it's sort of boring. After a while it becomes sweeter, more mustard and honey notes as well as plenty more herbs. This is interesting, if I were to forget it's a Bruichladdich and try it blind, I think I'd put my money on Glen Scotia or Littlemill, or even Auchentoshan. A good whisky, but way on the other side of the palate spectra than what I usually find in a Bruichladdich.
Herbal quality stuff: 6
Bruichladdich 18yo 1970-1989 46% Signatory Vintage cask#20354-20359 btl.206/1000
This one is from the Invergordon Distillers Era, later to be bought by Whyte & MacKay, current owners of Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and maybe a couple more. These were the owner's which mothballed the distillery back in 1995. Now the distillery are seeing better days. This is a miniature I purchased from The Whisky Shop in Edinburgh some years ago. Has a very slight evaporation, but content is still reaching well above the neck line. Golden brown color, smells much peatier than the "boat". Smoky, peaty, waxy, salty, fish sauce(asian alternative to soy sauce), cigars, fried duck liver and burnt wool. Sounds a bit excessive maybe, but that's what I'm getting, and its all good so far. The taste is amazing, the peatiness follows a rustic, musty, oaky, cheddar cheese and smoked sausage style. It's not as powerful as the nose suggested, but it's so refined. You can immediately, not just by the nose, but also the palate, instinctively tell this is a whisky-style which is getting harder and harder to find nowadays. The finish is sweet, definitively sherried, or at least some of these casks have held sherry prior to this whisky. Oloroso sherry, wax and honey. It's layer upon layer of old rustic, sherried and sweet. W&M must've been fools to mothball this distillery.
It doesn't get much better than this: 9.5
Bruichladdich 40yo 1964-2004 43.1% OB Forty
One from even further back in time, when the owners were Associated Scottish Distillers Ltd. And 40 years of age. Despite the relatively (keep in mind 40yo) low strength, this is a cask strength bottling. There were only 550 bottles released from this series, so I'm one of the lucky ones who gets to try this malt then. I think this bottling is a result of what can happen when new and ambitious owners buys a distillery with lots of old stock left. We all know what has happened at Bruichladdich since. Oh, the color is again this beautiful golden honey color. The nose shows me this needs some time by itself to open up. After about 15 minutes it tells me that it's a minty and oaky whisky, not much going on here so far, but the fragrances can be misleading. The taste is burnt, caramel, peat, low fat milk, salty licorice, dried oregano and garlic. I think this one needs a drop of water. With some water added it opens up a bit on radishes, plums, cinnamon and melon, a sort of fruity and spicy combination, with small hints of peat in the background. It's not that far from the Signatory in some aspects, but it lacks the sherried style, and where the S/V excels with greatness, this one holds back and just lets me frustratingly linger the content in my mouth on while I desperately hope there's more flavors to come. When that's done, I swallow and what aftertaste might could've been has vanished into an indecisive mixture of peat, oak and dry notes. It's a hard mountain to climb after the S/V, maybe it should've all been bottled earlier?
Maybe a cask or two in the vat wasn't all that good: 6
Bruichladdich 14yo 1986-2000 55.6% Scott's Selection
The last one in the show, and the only one to pass 46%abv in strength. I usually like my peated whiskies at a higher strength, especially the likes of Laphroaig and Caol Ila. This is the lightest one in color, white wine. Scott's Selection is a brand that really doesn't have a reputation at all I think, probably due to the fact that it's not much talked about and rarely found outside the UK. It smells light, hay and banana liqueur, sweet and light stuff alongside some peat that's not very coastal, reminds me a bit of the Old Ballantruan. The taste is full on cinnamon and honey, bananas and vanilla, leather and stimorol bubble gum, a multi faceted whisky. Finished with one layer, there's another one to discover. Although it lacks some finesse, it's a whisky that's hard to say any other negative about. The aftertaste is short and spicy, peppery, chili, dried paprika, dried onions and glue(!).
Shows that these small IB's can be great if you dare try them once in a while: 8
Next tasting: Laphroaig Distillery
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