This obviously created a lot of excitement when the new 10 Year was first released in 2011, garnering Whisky Advocate's "Islay Single Malt of the Year" award. With that kind of hype and having enjoyed the previous versions, I had high hopes when I opened this bottle.
Bruichladdich 10 Year (The Laddie Ten)
Nose: acrid vegetal peat reek, dirt, maritime notes, wood smoke, burnt toast, a thread of cigarette ash, caramel, herbal/anise, a bit of sherry, floral?, vanilla, malt, cinnamon?, used coffee grounds. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes incense-like, the peat and wood smoke integrate and tone down, there are more herbal/floral notes, some sweet vanilla and nutmeg come out, and there's more salty malt.
Taste: begins with malty sweetness and a bit of citrus, then bittersweet peat, pepper, and oak slam in, then it becomes more malty with dank sherry in the middle, then swings back to the peat/pepper/wood combo with even more oak. After dilution, there's now a thick layer of malty/sucrose sweetness throughout, though it's still overlaid by the bitter elements, it becomes a bit of a jumbled mess in the middle, and the oak notes becomes somewhat off.
Finish: peat, oak, rather bitter and short
What just happened? Where's the sweet, clean Bruichladdich that I was expecting? This is just dirty. There's an intense peat reek that's hard to banish and never seems to fit. I know it's not just sensitivity to peat, because I've enjoyed plenty of peaty drams before. But this whisky seems all wrong to me.
There seems to be significant batch variation - some, like Scotch Noob, seem to have gotten the same one I did. Others got what can only be cleaner batches. With that said, I tried some at the distillery in September and it still tasted like the same mess. People who I really respect, like Ralfy, absolutely loved it. And as I noted earlier, this whisky received all sorts of awards when it was released, so I'm left rather confused.
I really want to like Bruichladdich - even after the sale to Remy, they still have a great story. But this doesn't bode well for future releases - if this is what they have to work with, I'm not sure age is going to improve it much. However, I've now acquired my own bottles of the old 10, 12 and 15 year olds that were made from old stock, so I'm going to go back and see if it's just the new stuff they've been making that doesn't sit well with me or if I just need to give them a pass entirely. Either way, it's quite the quandary.
Agreed - I have had this on a few occasions spread apart geographically and in time, all from different bottles and probably batches. There's a huge sweaty gym bag quality that works when everything is big and at 11 like in Port Charlotte, but it's just kind of a mess in Laddie 10. I wish I saw in it what everyone else saw. I just can't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI'm genuinely curious if this is the flavor profile they were actually aiming for. I know palates differ, but this is just utterly bizarre.
DeleteWe've discussed this before on Twitter; I really am increasingly underwhelmed by new-era Bruichladdich. The Octomores have been good and I think Port Charlotte generally works, but the stuff under the distillery name has been real hit or miss. I still have flashbacks to that godawful Chenin Blanc.
DeleteHow would you compare 10 to Resurrection Dram? I've had that one and impressed on the quality although evolves slow. I can't get a replacement except 10. So many 10 reviews seem like Ressurection except creamier but then mention this way off Bitter Note. Maybe the sherry just did not mash well with the bourbon in some batches. Note that Resurrection is 100% bourbon and limited to like 20000 bottles while 10 is like 30% Sherry mix. There is a 100% Sherry Resurrection version but it's too hard to fine plus a lot more expansive. I am lost why Bruichladdich did not release 100% bourbon 10 versions.
ReplyDeleteI reviewed the Resurrection Dram earlier this month and generally liked it.
Deletehttp://cocktailchem.blogspot.com/2014/04/whisky-review-bruichladdich-2001.html
The new Laddie 10 just rubs me the wrong way entirely. I think they have some fermentation issues that are resulting in a lot of butyric and other short chain acids getting through that give the spirit a distinct and rather off-putting character. Resurrection is much cleaner and more pleasantly peated.