Brora 26yo 1982-2008 43% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
Starting with a pretty modern bottling from G&M, perhaps one of the last watered down Broras to be bottled? The color is light golden. It smells heather, herbal, waxy, perfumy, stewed onions, ashes, earthy, damp smoke, peat. The taste is peppery, licorice, salmi, honey, ginger, waxy, perfumy, earthy, tary, peaty, hay, vanilla, ashes, herbal liqueur. The finish is peppery, licorice, sweet gums, honey, oranges. I won't add water to this, as its already done by the bottler and I can't imagine it getting much better, rather the opposite.
A rare star amongst newer CC-bottlings: 9
Brora 18yo 1981-2000 43% Signatory Vintage cask#1081 btl.1582/1850
Lets hope for another revelation from a series that seems a bit under the weather these days, aka the "no colouring, no chill-filtration" series by Signatory. The color is golden. It smells herbal, waxy, raw onions, roasted almonds, acidic, oaky, peppery. The taste is buttery, ashes, rubbery, bitter, salty, nowhere nears the CC. This is much lighter and more one-dimensional. Lets add some water. Now it turns sweeter, vanilla, waxy, sugar, wheat.
No zing here, monotonous stuff: 5.5
Brora 24yo 1981-2006 46% Chieftains cask#1522
One that comes from a cream sherry butt, again I find it hard to understand why they watered this down to 43%, but rumor has it its a very unlikely Brora. The color is amber orange. It smells rubbery, coffee beans, ashes, burnt, salty, burnt rubber. The taste is spicy, nutty, ashes, rubbery, phenolic, drying, coal. This sure is a weird one, seems the cask has mostly added some sulphury rubbery off-notes. The peat is barely recognizable. Time for some water. Now it turns sweeter, caramel, nougat, toffee, burnt oak. This really is a whisky that improves with water, not a little, it really goes from under mediocre to highly enjoyable.
A two-edged sword: 6.5
Brora 26yo 50% Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask
Another old miniature with no vintage or cask reference of from Douglas Laing, probably from the early 2000's sometime. The color is golden. It smells rich, peaty, herbal, grassy, nestles, salted butter, oregano, basil, cumin, coriander, honey, toffee, dark chocolate, coffee beans, fantastic!!! The taste is bacon, salty, ashes, herbal, coastal, honey notes, I'd imagine this comes from some very active bourbon cask. The finish is all on bacon, smoked ham, onions, herbal, ashes, peaty, leather, feta cheese. Lets add some water. Now it turns sweeter, lighter, more honey, peaty, some young Talisker in this one?
Old whisky with the spirit of a youngster: 8
Brora 22yo 1981-2003 58.3% Signatory Vintage for LMDW cask#1588
Another one from a sherry butt, this time a refill, let's hope its mellowed with less intensity than the #1522. Lets jump some strength at least. It smells sweet, vanilla, honey, light, crisp, onions. The taste is waxy, butter, pepperies, chillies, onions, very strong and complex, but just a bit too oaky now. Adding water. Now it turns more malty, sugar sweetness, honey, ripe oranges, grape juice. The finish is peppery, oaky, nutty, drying, dried sherry, tannic, dried herbs.
Complex and probably perfect for someone who cares less about clean flavors than me: 6.5
Brora 13yo 1982-1995 60.4% Cadenhead's
I can already tell you that this whisky probably never will be available for mass consumption of any kind. 13yo Brora! Some evaporation, but after 18 years in a miniature bottle, one might expect that. I trongly advice, if you want to relive stills as they were before closure, please try to get some younger bottlings instead of that 30-something thats might be impeccable, yet dominantly oak-driven. Youngsters like this might give you real insight to why the distillery was lost in the first place, or to what treasure we all might have lost. The color is golden. It smells wheat, withdrawn sherry, some sweet white wine, buttery, dried onion, marshmallows, custard, dried herbs, thyme, basil, rosemary, rich, I imagine stewing some lamb in this, but it'd been one hell of an expensive meal. The taste is rich, peppery, vanilla, banana, coffee, burnt, peaty, peppery, caramel, cinnamon, ashes, yeast, tannins, sweet, honey liqueur, ginger, vanilla, brittle, smoked meat. Wow! The finish is waxy, buttery, drying, tannic, rich, cinnamon.
Water could never make this any better, its the best Brora I've had so far: 10
Brora 23yo 1981-2004 60.8% Duncan Taylor
Duncan Taylor is a bit of an odd IB with strangely positive reviews in my opinion. I have had a couple "rarest of the rare"-bottlings that have been nothing but rare, so to speak. I've also had both supreme whiskies for a very fair price and bad, or less good if you like, whiskies at abnormally high prices. The color is golden. It smells wheaty herbal, peppery, yeasty, spirity, wheat beer. The taste is sweet, black berries, dried onions, spirity, oaky. Lets add some water. Now it turns rubbery, more bitter, earthy, dark berries, duck liver, burnt, quite extreme. In my perception, this could easily have benefited from 10 more years in the cask(s)?
It seems 1982 was a better vintage than 1981: 4
Brora 30yo 2002 52.4% OB
Time to try some of the posthumous OB Broras. I have bot chased down samples of all the vintages, but heres a handful, lets enjoy them vertically and start off with the 2002 bottling. The color is golden. It smells heather, earthy, ashes, peat, leather, spirity, raw onions, oaky. The taste is sweet, honey, spicy, earthy, burnt oak, sulphury, acidic, lime rind, briny. Just a bit raw, lets leave to breath for a while. It doesn't get rid of that vulgar acidic note. Lets add some water. Now it turns sweeter, more grassy and herbal, peaty, peppery, caramel, iodine, briny, lots of iodine and salty notes. The finish is peaty and peppery, long lasting with some earthy and oaky notes.
A bit too tannic and oaky for me, also spirity: 6
Brora 30yo 2003 55.7% OB
Same age, but a bit stronger this time, I hope the strength will help dominate a bit of the oakiness in this one. Perhaps like the 13yo, so I won't have to add water. The color is dark golden. It smells peaty, minty, leather, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, white peppers, butter, seasalt, iodine, rich, a rather more tempting nose than the 2002. The taste is caramel, butter, honey, peaty, vanilla, licorice, rubbery, orange marmalade, salty, earthy, creamy, thick sweetness combined with hints of earthy bitter notes makes for a great palate. The finish is heather, briny, peppery, earthy, peaty.
A superb peaty profile here: 9.5
Brora 30yo 2005 56.3% OB
Even higher strength on this one, and to me it seems the spirit of Brora is so good that I could've even enjoyed it as a new-make. Lets hope for another high strength winner here. The color is dark golden. It smells peppery, burnt oil, acidic, vanilla, honey. This is a rather light one it seems. The taste is sweet, vanilla, bananas, yoghurt, melon, tomato sauce, peat smoke, wet leaves, earthy, rucola leaves. Lets add some water. Now it turns sweeter, cinnamon, peppery, peaty, ashes, duck gravy, roasted almonds, a lot more happening now. The finish is salty, waxy, iodine, earthy, great!
This one takes water very well, and runs with it: 9
Brora 30yo 2006 55.7% OB
It seems they must have had quite some casks left from Brora after its closure, wonder what the reputation Brora would have today if these were put out there as single cask OBs instead. One can only wonder, but I think they've done it most traditional way, which is good. The color on this one is dark golden. It smells peaty, restrained, peppery, sulphur, citric. Another closed and restrained one it seems at first. The taste is well rounded, honeyed, buttery, creamy at first, before it turns peaty, smoky, like an ashtray I'd imagine with some intense peppery notes too. The peated Bunnahabhain wasn't far from this one. Lets add some water. Now it turns more bitter, grassy, herbal, boiled carrots, onions. Quite dreadful actually, I must say I'm a bit surprised how just a nudge of water squeezed the life out of this otherwise half-decent Brora.
It promised to be a floral one, but with water it just became vegetal and grassy: 3
Brora 30yo 2007 55.7% OB
Third one at 55.7% in this session, I believe they've mixed with precision to get them at same strength. But then again, priorly one 3 and one 9.5 shows strength maybe not that important? The color is dark golden, strikingly similar to many others in this sitting. It smells honeyed, buttery, creamy, fresh pastry, aniseed, thyme, peat, earthy, minty cigarettes, stout. The taste is feinty, licorice, red meat, cinnamon, caramel, coffee beans, pear syrup, peaty, onions, I'm guessing there's quite some sherried malt in this one. The finish is licorice, acidic, drying, earthy. Adding water. Now it turns more peaty, earthy, clay, burnt, honeyed, spicy cinnamon, chillies, this ones packing some heat. The finish is fresh, minty, peppery, quite bizarre finish on what is a really fine Brora.
Some sherry notes, some spicy notes and some minty notes: 8
Brora 30yo 2010 54.3% OB
Seems they dropped the strength in 2010, maybe getting low on high strength whiskies in the warehouses? But then again, this could surprise me and be the best of the bunch. The color is golden. It smells vanilla, onions, earthy, perfumy, peat, gravel, clay, grease. The taste is ashes, perfumy, spirity, coal, peat smoke, ginger, honey liqueur, a pretty decent bourbon oak-driven malt. Lets add some water. Now it turns sweeter, vanilla, perfumy, rosé wine, wine vinegar, not very much better I'm afraid. The finish is sour apples and floral.
An all over pretty MOTR Brora: 5.5
Brora then
Brora buildings in 2011
Next tasting: Banff Distillery
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