Whisky Review: Duncan Taylor Bruichladdich 34 Year 1969/2003

1969 was an interesting year at Bruichladdich - they had been purchased by Invergordon Distillers the year before and would go on to continue the expansion that had begun in the early-60s with the cessation of on-site malting. That means this whisky was distilled on Bruichladdich's original two stills, but it was made with industrial malt.

A more personal factoid is that this is the most expensive whisky I have ever purchased. It seems like small potatoes in this day and age since it only ran me a little over $200 when I purchased it in 2013, but I was on a grad student budget so it felt like a lot of money.

This whisky was distilled in May 1969, filled into a cask (more guesses about exactly what kind later), and bottled in June 2003 at 46.8% without coloring or chill filtration in an outturn of 147 bottles.

Duncan Taylor Bruichladdich 34 Year 1969/2003 Cask #2331

Nose: thick, rich oxidized sherry, juicy raisins, strawberry jam, fresh apples, floral malt top notes, creamy vanilla, bubblegum, dunnage/herbal/mushroom funk, mild oak. After adding a few drops of water the sherry becomes more vibrant, the jam turns into fresh berries, the balance with the floral and malt notes is better, and some oak spices come out.

Taste: bittersweet sherry up front, background oak tannins around the middle, undercurrent of malt and vanilla throughout that emerges a little more around the finish alongside some trademark Bruichladdich character. After dilution the sherry becomes a little softer and more in balance with the malt, and some surprisingly youthful green character comes out.

Finish: balanced sherry, oak, and malt, with some lingering cardboard and heat

Judging from the relatively small number of bottles and the depth of the sherry influence on this whisky, my guess is that it was a first-fill American oak sherry hogshead. While this is likely to please fans of sherry-driven malts, I'm not sure that three decades in the cask did anything for this whisky that couldn't have been found if it was bottled in its teens. While not lacking in intensity, it doesn't have a lot of the added complexity need to balance out the reduced punch that it might have had above 50% ABV.

I suspect that this would have been better off going into a small batch release where it could have been blended with a more inactive ex-bourbon cask to get some of that ester-y complexity alongside the sherry character. But since I don't have any old bourbon cask Bruichladdich, that experiment will have to be done by someone else.

Diluted to 40%

Nose: raisin-y sherry, creamy malt and vanilla, dark chocolate, dry oak

Taste: rather bitter throughout - muddled sherry, malt, and oak

Finish: bitter tannins, dank sherry residue, vegetal malt, a touch of chocolate

Wow, that was not great. While the aromas remain pleasant if soft, the palate and finish completely fall apart into a bitter mess. I was curious if this would have worked in the old G&M style, I think it's clear that this wouldn't have worked at anything less than cask strength.

Whisky Review: Port Charlotte Scottish Barley

Somehow, this is the first Port Charlotte I've ever tried. While I have had the earlier Bruichladdich Peat (and thought it was disgusting), PC has always garnered much more praise. Whether it's the high prices or lack of availability in the States, I've just never gotten around to it before.

So we start at the beginning. This is currently the entry level release in the lineup, produced entirely from Scottish barley, then aged in a mix of American oak ex-bourbon and European oak ex-red wine casks. The whisky is bottled at 50% without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Whiskysite.nl

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley

Nose: dominated by dry peat smoke, fresh herbal notes, a little roasted vegetable savoriness, Bruichladdich malt, pleasant dry oak behind, a touch of caramel, nutmeg and cinnamon, red wine in the background. After adding a few drops of water it remains relatively unchanged, but the peat shifts into more of an herbal mode, meshing with the nutmeg, and something floral starts creeping out.

Taste: everything lands at once and carries through to the back - pleasant malty sweetness, dry peat smoke, an appropriate amount of oak, citrus, and red wine in the background. After dilution the structure remains similar, but it becomes sweeter and the alcohol paradoxically has more heat.

Finish: carries through from the palate with a little more red wine and oak

I want to like this more than I do. The spirit seems good - there's no unpleasant funk, just solid peat smoke and Bruichladdich malt. But given what these NAS bottles go for, there isn't enough complexity to make me choose it over something like Ledaig 10 Year. With that said, I am curious to try the latest Port Charlotte 10 Year or some of the more well-received cask finishes, because I can absolutely believe that it has more potential than this.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley

Bruichladdich has been putting out NAS/multi-vintage releases in their trademark blue bottles under the Laddie Classic/Classic Laddie name holding down the lower end of the lineup since 2009. The name was inverted in 2013 when it became part of their Scottish Barley project alongside a more heavily peated Port Charlotte version.

All of these have striven to showcase what the distillery considers to be its core profile - clean malt flavors with some coastal influence. These have all been from American oak casks, though they have been a mix of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry (at least in the early iterations), an ex-red wine. The Scottish Barley releases have all been bottled at 50% without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Dramtime.nl

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley

Nose: pleasantly mild earthy peat funk, round fresh malt - less youthful than expected, a little bit of red wine and oak in the background. After adding a few drops of water it turns into something like WIPs Kilkerrans with the peat integrating and turning into something like ginger cookies.

Taste: pleasant malt sweetness up front with a little heat and oak underneath, continues in the same vein towards the back where it picks up some light red wine, a bit of gentle peat, and a little more oak. After dilution it becomes more rounded with the red wine tucking into the background while the peat spreads out and integrates, resulting in a much more enjoyable profile.

Finish: balanced clean malt, earthy peat, oak, and a bit of red wine

This continues to gives me hope that Bruichladdich finally has their spirit under control. There's a little bit of their funk at full strength, but it reads closer to the very mild peat of the 12 Year Second Edition than the over the top weirdness of Laddie Ten. Speaking of which, while this is nominally part of their 'unpeated' lineup, this absolutely tastes lightly peated. I have no clue whether that is how they choose to malt the barley for this release or if it is picking up the remnants of their Port Charlotte and Octomore runs from the washbacks and stills, but either way it has similarities to Hazelburns that come off as peated.

I might consider buying more if I could find it around the $40 mark. Especially with water it hits a lot of the notes I look for from Bruichladdich, though it is missing the salinity that would take it up a notch. As it stands this is a competent malt that reminds me of early Kilkerran WIP releases, well-suited for times when you don't want to think too hard about what you're drinking. By the same token there is nothing here to dazzle, but sometimes that's exactly what you're looking for.

Whisky Review: Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Bruichladdich 19 Year 1992/2012

While I have a complex relationship with Bruichladdich, there are just enough expressions that I really enjoy to keep me on the lookout for more, however many of them end up being stinkers. So I was pleasantly surprised when The Party Source had a well-aged Bruichladdich at what looked like a killer price (subsequently jacked up significantly). After working my way through a number of other expressions without any kind of fussy cask finishes, this seemed like the next one to try.

This whisky was distilled on November 20th 1992, filled into an ex-bourbon hogshead (probably refill) #3627, and proofed down to 46% without coloring or chill filtration on March 5th 2012 in an outturn of 342 bottles.

Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Bruichladdich 19 Year 1992/2012 Cask #3627

Nose: malty, green, a touch of seashore and vanilla, honey, distant oak. After adding a few drops of water the oak becomes a little more present, some banana and berry notes emerge, and the malt becomes more grainy.

Taste: malt and wood sweetness up front, trademark Bruichladdich salinity with honey and mild bourbon cask fruit esters in the middle, fades out through malt with a touch of bitterness, citrus, vanilla, and oak. After dilution it is largely unchanged, though possibly a little smoother and sweeter.

Finish: fresh malt, a touch of seashore/salinity, vanilla, hints of oak

The best I can say for this whisky is that there's nothing to actively dislike about it. Well, except for the part where I shelled out ~$90 for a whisky that is kind of boring. While I had hoped that Signatory was slipping us a bargain in comparison to OB Bruichladdichs of comparable age - usually double or triple what I paid for this - it appears that they decided to bottle it to catch the Laddie hype with something that wasn't going to get any better if they continued to sit on the cask. Just goes to show that sometimes a deal that seems too good to be true actually is. Unfortunately at the time I bought it the TPS review "It's a great study in malt character, if a bit basic in that regard." hadn't been posted or I might have more wisely given it a miss.

For a slightly different take on this whisky, check out Michael Kravitz's review.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 15 Year First Edition

Bruichladdich 15 Year was part of the first wave of releases after the distillery was reopened by Mark Reynier and Co in the early-2000s. This was a fairly standard set of releases, including a 10 Year and a 17 Year, which were fairly standard combinations of bourbon and sherry casks that had been distilled under the previous regime.

The whisky was bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration and released in 2003. This miniature was purchased at the Islay Whisky Shop in 2013 during my trip to Scotland.

Bruichladdich 15 Year First Edition

Nose: rich, buttery fortified wine character, dried fruit, light vanilla, solid oak (American/European), background malt, orange/lime peel, floral. After adding a few drops of water the wine and malt notes are amplified, softer overall, and some cinnamon notes come out.

Taste: wine-driven, sweet fruit (grape) and honey up front, growing acidic and floral towards the back, grassy/oak bitterness into the finish. After dilution the fruit becomes brighter, there is more citrus and less acidity, plus increased oak tannins.

Finish: acidic, grape, light European oak, grassy malt

While I think this is a good whisky, I found it a little hard to find the 'Laddie character underneath the wine. In a lot of ways this is surprising since the first edition was a very sensible mix of bourbon and sherry casks, but it is in keeping with their style at the time.

In an interesting demonstration of the influence of expectations, I originally thought that this was the second rather the first edition, which would have meant that it had a sauternes cask finish rather than the sherry. Lo and behold, I interpreted a lot of the wine notes as sauternes, à la Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or. When I corrected this impression, the wine notes were more clearly sherry. So mistaken beliefs about what you're drinking can radically alter your perceptions.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Laddie Ten Second Edition

The first edition of Laddie Ten was met with a significant amount of fanfare, representing the distillery coming into its own. Its loss was equally significant, demonstrating that not all was right in their warehouses.

When Bruichladdich announced a second edition of Laddie Ten, it was met with significant excitement, albeit tempered by the knowledge that it was explicitly labeled as a limited edition, as opposed to an ongoing release.

This whisky was constructed from ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-red wine casks, then bottled at 50% without coloring or chill filtration.

Bruichladdich Laddie Ten Second Edition

Nose: fairly lean overall, a healthy dose of European oak, caramel, dusty red wine and sherry, plum, malt, herbal, baking spices. After adding a few drops of water the wine and fruit notes become jammier and more sherried, the malt and oak are more balanced, and the herbal notes become more peaty/new make-y.

Taste: red wine and berries with a malty, caramel thickness throughout, increasingly tannic at the back with underlying notes of peat and chocolate. After dilution it becomes more balanced, with the wine and malt notes complementing each other and the oak integrating into both.

Finish: red wine residue, chocolate, European oak tannins, dry malt

The red wine component of this vatting really shows through. While less disjointed than some other Laddies with a similar treatment, it does seem a shame to cover up the spirit with a coating of wine. With that said, Bruichladdich seems to have ironed out whatever problems it had with its spirit back when the first Laddie Ten was released. On the other hand, this one seems to benefit from water in the same way as the Laddie Eight, so it's unclear to me why these were bottled at 50% instead of 46%. Hopefully we'll see less tinkered with Laddies in the future, because this has promise even if it's not my jam in its current form.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 8 Year

The period after Bruichladdich was taken over by Rémy Cointreau saw the disappearance of nearly all of their age-dated single malts, ostensibly because aged stocks had been run down by the previous lineup of 10, 16, and 22 Year olds released near the end of the Reynier era. The (almost) all-NAS lineup that replaced it allowed them to use younger whiskies while they rebuilt.

Within the last year we have started to see hints that this hiatus may be coming to a close. Within that period they have released a number of age dated single malts, albeit ones with single-digit or low double-digit ages. This almost feels like an attempt to bring some closure to the missteps that were made just before and during the takeover, suggesting that they are entering a new era of stability. But the important question is whether the whisky is any good.

This whisky was aged in a mix of European (presumably sherry or some other kind of wine casks) and American (presumably bourbon and sherry casks) oak, then bottled at 50% without coloring or chill filtration.

Bruichladdich 8 Year

Nose: fresh malt, new make, a touch of sherry/vinegar/sour red wine, berries, herbal, vanilla, cinnamon, a little coastal and nutty, lightly charred oak. After adding a few drops of water the sherry is amplified alongside the sour notes and more European oak comes out, but the new make mostly fades.

Taste: creamy malt throughout, a touch of sherry, sour wine, berries, and lemon peel in the middle, increasingly strong/bitter oak with some herbal notes and sherried roundness at the back. After dilution it becomes more herbal, the oak at the back gains more European character and is balanced with a bit of peat, while the sherry/sour notes in the middle become stronger but more integrated.

Finish: tannic oak, sharp and drying but not unpleasant, creamy herbal malt, a touch of funk

Contrary to much of the younger releases during the Reynier era of Bruichladdich, this one appears to have had some moderately aggressive casks in the mix. While this is closer to the first 10 Year made from pre-purchase stocks that I liked, it still feels underdone - while the spirit is cleaner and lacking in the unpleasant funk that I found in the Laddie Ten First Edition, the oak has added too much and become overly tannic at full strength. Some of that can be mitigated with dilution, which makes me think that this would have been better off at their standard 46%. This gives me some hope for the future of Bruichladdich when they have a more stable balance between production and sales, but I'll give a full bottle a miss right now.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 12 Year Second Edition

Bruichladdich 12 Year Second Edition was some of the last entry level whisky released by Bruichladdich that was made entirely from stocks produced before Mark Reynier purchased the distillery and brought it back to life in 2001. The exact provenance is difficult to pin down because the distillery was shuttered between 1994 and 2000 except for a brief production run in 1998, when the team from Jura ran the place using 28 PPM malt. Given the late bottling date on this and the fairly obvious peat influence it's possible that it is composed largely of spirit from that 1998 run as that would have been old enough to use and the pre-1994 stocks would likely have been running thin by then.

This whisky was put together from first- and second-fill ex-bourbon casks and was bottled at 11:46 on May 11th, 2011 with bottling code 11/114 at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

Bruichladdich 12 Year Second Edition

Nose: big bourbon cask notes of vanilla, caramel, and gentle oak, berry esters and pink bubblegum, a touch of peat, salinity, barrel char, putty. After adding a few drops of water the malt becomes drier and pushes the cask influence towards the back, the oak becomes more like cedar bark.

Taste: sweet malt up front, oak tannins move in quickly and turn the malt bittersweet, around the middle - vanilla, herbal/pine, and berry overtones with salinity in the background, fading out through gentle peat. After dilution the oak becomes softer while the berry notes are brighter and move towards the front.

Finish: balanced oak and malt, berries lingering peat

This is one of those whiskies that makes you think "they just don't make them like that anymore". It's not a flashy malt, but it's nearly flawless and deeply satisfying to drink. Unlike much of what has been distilled since it was restarted in 2001, there is none of the butyric funk that mars many current releases. Additionally, the oak is a significant presence that gives the spirit heft without overwhelming the distillery character, unlike many newer Bruichladdichs that seem like could stand to spend more time in first-fill casks. I can only hope that Bruichladdich can return to this style someday when demand has settled down and they're once again able to mature their whisky to a reasonable age, but the comparison between the two 10 year olds makes me wonder if that will really be possible. We'll just have to wait and see.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 10 Year Old vs. New

In many ways these two releases bracket the beginning and end of Bruichladdich's first phase after its purchase by Mark Reynier in 2000. The first 10 Year was one of the earliest releases in 2001 under the new ownership, utilizing spirit that was acquired from Whyte & Mackay along with the distillery itself. Even if it wasn't their own distillate, it was meant to establish the distillery's character in the new era.

In contrast, the Laddie Ten was released in 2011 as the first ten year old made entirely from spirit distilled under the new ownership. At that point the distillery was expected to move into a more standard mode with an established lineup composed of 10, 16, and 22 year old bottlings. However, that state of affairs quickly collapsed not long after the distillery was purchased by Remy Cointreau, with the age dated bottles no longer available outside of the distillery shop (and not even available there now) and the lineup reduced primarily to NAS or sub-10 year old vintage bottlings. So while the Laddie Ten did herald a new era, it was extremely short-lived.

Both were bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration. The old label 10 Year is a 200 mL bottle that was purchased at the Islay Whisky Shop in 2013 and has a bottling code HW 02/0072, suggesting that it was bottled in 2002. The Laddie Ten was also purchased and opened in 2013, but the bottling code is unknown.

Bruichladdich 10 Year

Nose: pineapple, orange juice, berries, sherry, raisins, fresh malt, caramel, a touch of sea air, vegetal peat, mild oak. After adding a few drops of water, the sherry character expands, it becomes a little more raw and youthful overall, with the malt becoming grainier.

Taste: youthful - but not overly so, sweet malt beginning up front and carrying through to the back, a veneer of sherry and green notes beginning around the middle, very mild oak with a touch of vanilla and peat near the back. After dilution, the sherry character is enhanced and spreads out, there's a burst of slightly raw fruit esters around the middle, and the green notes around the back become a little sour, and the malt becomes grainier.

Finish: sherry residue, malt, light peat

I can see how this would have been a good representation for the distillery as it tried to rebuild itself in the mid-2000s. Unlike the more wild experiments of Reynier/McEwan era, it's a simple recipe of ex-bourbon casks with a smaller number of ex-sherry casks to give it a bit more pep. It's relatively uncomplicated and youthful, but also without overt flaws. For a drinker not closely scrutinizing the experience, it's pleasant and enjoyable without demanding a lot of attention.

If you live in the US there may still a few retailers that have the original Bruichladdich 10 Year on their shelves and if you happen to stumble upon it, I think it's a worthwhile experience as part of a bygone era, both for Bruichladdich itself and the industry as a whole.

The Laddie Ten

Nose: very earthy, dank, peat without a lot of smoke, fresh herbs, bourbon cask berries, vanilla with a slightly artificial cast, solid level of oak, leathery, roasted cacao beans, a touch of cumin. After adding a few drops of water, the leathery character increases, some coastal influence comes out, and the earth becomes damp mud.

Taste: malt sweetness and wood sugars throughout, salty with bourbon cask berries starting around the middle, earthy/leathery oak tannins and peat near the back. After dilution, it remains similar, but the leathery character is amplified.

Finish: oak tannins and earthy peat, berries, creamy malt,

Hate it or love it, the Laddie Ten is simply an entirely different whisky. It's not peated in the way that its Islay brethren are, instead making me think of peat that's turning into fresh soil. While it is mature in a way that the original 10 Year was not, without the youthful greenness, it also lacks the clean character that made the previous version such an easy drinking whisky.

Thankfully sometime in the last two years that this sample has sat around the butyric character that I originally found has burned off, which makes it far more drinkable. If I had to pick between the two, I'd take the pre-Reynier distillate any day.

Whisky Review: Octomore 01.1

In the far mists of 2008, Bruichladdich ignited the brief but brutal Peat Wars.

For most of the history of whisky, 'heavily peated' meant that the whisky had been made from barley peated to somewhere around 50 ppm phenols. And the resulting spirit is going to be very, very peaty. But Bruichladdich under the ownership of Mark Reynier was all about experimentation and they wonder what would happen if you packed even more phenols into the malt.

The experiments became Octomore. This first batch was made from barley that was peated to 131 PPM, aged for 5 years in fresh ex-bourbon casks, then bottled at a hefty 63.5%.

Thanks to Ian of PDXWhisky for letting me try a sample.

Octomore 01.1

Nose: clay, play dough, tortilla chips, pervasive but not particularly aggressive peat, salted green vegetables (spinach?), fresh malt, wood polish, young oak, very light fruit/floral esters, and something a bit jammy. After adding a few drops of water, there's some Laddie funk in the foreground, the clay becomes putty and overtakes the peat, which slips into the background, the wood and brine integrate, and the malt fades.

Taste: waves of sweet malt and wood sugars with rounded stone fruit esters and an underlying brininess, fading into oak tannins, moderate peat, and clay. After dilution, the sweetness is slightly smoothed out and resolves into sugarcane syrup, the peat comes in earlier, but fades more quickly in favor of strong wood tannins/barrel char.

Finish: clay, moderate peat and wood

I will presage all of this by saying that this sample came from a bottle that has been open for years, so it's hard to know how much the spirit has lost in that time. But honestly? This is kind of boring. There is literally nothing going on that would make me think this was peated to a particularly high degree (this may have to do with Bruichladdich's stills) and at 5 years old there's not enough development to add much from the barrel to give it more character. In fact, part of me wonders if this was bottled when it was because the spirit had already extracted so much tannin from the casks that it risked becoming over-oaked. Oddly, the high proof isn't even particularly evident - I've had whiskies that were below 60% that singed my nose more.

I can envision some of the cask experiments like Comus and Orpheus giving it a little something more, but every release of Octomore has become a collectors item and is basically impossible to find at this point. Beyond that, they cost more than I would care to pay even at retail. So, one more whisky that I'm perfectly happy giving a miss - my bank balance will surely thank me.

Experimental Whisky: Hazelburn 12 Year/Laddie 10 Year Blend

I wasn't particularly fond of either of the whiskies going into this blend, so I ended up futzing around to see if there was a way to improve them. Maybe two wrongs would make a right.

1:1 Hazelburn 12 Year/Laddie 10 Year Blend

Nose: maritime, Juicy Fruit, purple sherry, floral, Laddie peat reek underneath becoming stronger with time, musty oak. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes creamier, the raisin notes become less sweet, some berries and new make grain pop out, something like lemongrass hand soap, and coffee/mocha.

Taste: malt and sherry have blended almost seamlessly, a bit floral at the back, sour apples, very light peat and oak, sweet up front fading towards bittersweet at the back. After dilution, there is burnt sugar, bittersweet raisins, more sour apples or new make, and peppery honey.

Finish: light sweet sherry and malt, raisins, sour apples, bittersweet tannins

Enhhhh... while I think this is something of an improvement, the only real plus was bringing out more maritime influence on the nose. For some reason the combination seemed even younger than either by itself and there was no getting around the Laddie's unpleasant peat reek. Water also helped a bit, but the hand soap notes on the nose were not particularly welcome.

So be it. They can't all be winners.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Rocks, Waves, and Peat - or "What Was Jim McEwan Thinking?!?"

Some years ago, Bruichladdich put out a number of young (~7 years old) single malts that were designed to provide an introduction to the brand at a more reasonable cost. It was all distillate produced after the buyout by Mark Reynier, in contrast to the stocks that came with the distillery. I picked these up as a set of miniatures from The Whisky Exchange, but it appears that they are sold out now.

As with most Bruichladdich releases, all were bottled at 46% without chill filtration or coloring.

Bruichladdich Rocks

Nose: Laddie malt core, milk chocolate, overpowering sour red wine, sweaty sock funk, bad sherry casks, new make/vegetal peat edge, jammy raspberries - everything gets worse with time. After adding a few drops of water, there is more malt, some maritime notes and cinnamon peek out, it becomes creamier, but overall everything else is worse - grain notes become musty.

Taste: begins decently but blandly - some malt and barrel sweetness up front with a touch of cinnamon, there are notes of sour milk that start in the middle and hang around far too long, then it segues into off-notes of red wine and sherry. After dilution, much sweeter overall, the oak notes become musty, more sherry comes out but there's a horrible sourness to it all that ruins the palate, the taste won't go away - kill me now.

Finish: grows worse and worse with time - sour/bitter oak and wine dregs, plastic, nasty peat reek

Rarely do I try a whisky that tastes like it actively wishes me harm. This is absolutely everything wrong with new style Bruichladdich releases - bad red wine casks, terrible peat reek, and a complete lack of coherence. I know tastes vary, but this genuinely makes me question what's wrong with Jim McEwan. This was designed to be Bruichladdich's introduction to the brand - the first taste that many people would get of their whisky. Why they would go this route instead of playing it safe, I do not know. But I am becoming more and more convinced that I want to avoid anything from Bruichladdich that was distilled after 2001. It just doesn't work for me. Good riddance to this whisky.

Bruichladdich Waves

Nose: fresh, salty, gentle peat, something meaty, rubbery undercurrent, malty core, Playdough, some Laddie funk. After adding a few drops of water, it remains more or less unchanged.

Taste: malty sweetness and polished oak throughout, mild peat/seaweed and oak near the back, a bit of funk and salt. After dilution, it becomes flatter and more integrated but actually more pleasant, the bitterness become coffee-like, there is more oak, and there's an overall sense that the whisky is more mature.

Finish: mild peat/funk residue, salty malt, lightly bitter oak

While simple, this is at least not bad. I would consent to drink this whisky again, which was refreshing after the terribleness of Rocks. There is just enough peat to provide some spice to the underlying malt and the lack of wine casks kept it uncomplicated. While I think this could actually benefit from a few sherry casks, I'm not sure I quite trust the hands at Bruichladdich to pick them well.

However, Waves was discontinued some time ago, so it's a bit of a moot point.

Bruichladdich Peat

Nose: vague peat reek, new make, malty, almost no oak, Playdough, vegetal, more clearly peated with time but still surprisingly gentle. After adding a few drops of water, some salted caramel notes come out, there is more obvious oak influence, and the peat integrates with the malt.

Taste: intensely sweet up front (almost seems artificial), surprising lack of peat, very little oak, bourbon barrel fruitiness in the middle. After dilution, everything amps up - the start of the sip is pure sucrose, the peat is finally assertive, there is more bourbon barrel influence, but nothing really makes it great.

Finish: mild peat, lingering sweetness, alcohol edge

Despite what it says on the label, there wasn't a lot of peat influence. This is rather surprising, as Peat was supposedly a 50/50 mix of young Port Charlotte (50 PPM) and Ocotomore (100+ PPM). It may be that this is due to sampling this from a miniature (which are often flawed), but it may be that's just how this one worked. Either way, it didn't do much for me. Which is kind of irrelevant, as this one is also long gone.

Whisky Review: Blue Hanger 7th Release

Blue Hanger is a series of blended malts put together by Berry Brothers & Rudd, each with a different recipe.

As far as I can gather, this particular release is composed of one ex-bourbon hogshead of 1992 Bruichladdich, one ex-sherry butt of 1990 Bunnahabhain, four ex-bourbon hogsheads of 1997 Miltonduff, and two ex-bourbon hogsheads of peated 2006 Bunnahabhain. So the mix is dominated by teenage Speyside whisky, which is accented by older unpeated Islay whisky and a healthy dose of rather young peated Islay whisky.

This was a 2013 US-only release, unlike every other Blue Hanger, which have been for the UK market. It was bottled at a respectable but not overwhelming 45.6%, without chill filtration or coloring.

Thanks to Ian of PDXWhisky for the sample.

Blue Hanger 7th Release

Nose: savory and oak-y, with accents of dry wood smoke, salty bacon, and caramel, minor sherry influence. After adding a few drops of water, the oak becomes less pronounced, with the focus shifting towards the malt and peat, with hints of new make poking out.

Taste: also savory, with an undercurrent of sweet grassy caramel and overtones of floral peat smoke, barrel notes throughout - wood spices and char, malt comes in near the back. After dilution, some of the grassiness becomes root vegetables and new make spirit, the sweetness becomes more pronounced, 

Finish: dry peat smoke over barrel char and malt

While I think this was a good concept, the execution left a little bit to be desired. While I like peated Bunnahabhain, most of what I've tried has come from the experimental 1997 batch. I feel like this blended malt would have been significantly improved if one of the casks of young peated Bunnahabhain had been swapped out for a hogshead of 1997 peated Bunnahabhain. This would have both given the peat smoke more complexity and reduced the new make notes that disrupted the experience for me. This goes double if the peated 1997 Bunnahabhain had been from an ex-sherry cask. I really enjoy the interplay of sherry and peat, so I would have enjoy more sherry influence in the mix.

So, overall, while I like this idea of this whisky, I don't enjoy the experience enough to drop $100 on a bottle. The price is justified by the old Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain, but I'll give it a miss. You may enjoy it more than I did, but I would lean towards trying a sample before you buy it, unless you're very sure that you're OK with some new make notes in your whisky.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 2001 - The Resurrection Dram

Bruichladdich began distilling again on October 23rd, 2001 after being silent for most of a decade. Seven years later, the distillery released a bottling from that very first run, appropriately named The Resurrection Dram.

The whisky was from a single batch of lightly peated (10 ppm) barley and had been aged for seven years exclusively in ex-bourbon casks, then bottled at 46% without coloring or chill-filtration.

Thanks to Ian of PDXWhisky for the sample.

Bruichladdich 2001 - The Resurrection Dram

Nose: rather light, gentle and well-integrated vegetal peat, some maritime notes, light oak and a touch of wood smoke, vanilla sugar, malt, slightly floral. After adding a few drops of water, the malt becomes dominate and more vanilla comes out, giving a fresher feel to the whisky, the peat and wood are still present but act more as accents, and a bit of dark chocolate pops out.

Taste: woody - but not overwhelmingly so - throughout, underlying malt, grows sweeter towards the back, gently bitter peat and wood smoke at the back. After dilution, it becomes much sweeter and maltier, with the wood and peat providing a nice balance, alongside some fruity/floral bourbon barrel esters near the back.

Finish: peat and wood smoke, gentle maltiness, light bitterness

This feels like a more refined version of Bruichladdich Waves. Peat is present, but not a dominant flavor, especially after adding a bit of water. While there isn't a whole lot going on (though this was literally the last dram of the bottle, so it may be oxidized), it's quite a nice drink and would have presaged good things to come when it was released in 2008.

In some ways I find this whisky frustrating after the bizarre ride of Laddie 10. If the quality of the Resurrection Dram had been carried forward, I would have a lot more respect and hope for Bruichladdich in the future. It's not a complex whisky, but it was enjoyable and could have gotten better with time and maybe a few sherry casks. But this appears to have been a one-off, so I think we're stuck with funky Laddies instead.

News from Bruichladdich: Rémy's First Big Slip-Up

The big news at Bruichladdich in 2012 was their sale to Rémy Cointreau, a large drinks conglomerate. This was shocking to many in the whisky community as the reborn Bruichladdich, after it was purchased by Mark Reynier in 2000, had styled itself as 'fiercely independent'. However, Remy's deal was simply too good to pass up for the numerous investors who had sunk money into the endeavor.

The big question after the sale announced was whether Remy would influence the distillery, pushing them onto a new and more corporate path. Would there be changes in their lineup?

Now we know the answer is yes, though not in the way that many assumed.

Over the last few months, visitors to Bruichladdich's website began to notice that mentions of their age-dated expressions, notably the 'Laddie 10', had been pulled or listed as 'sold out' on their web shop. Rumors began to fly on Twitter that Laddie 10 had been discontinued, but were talked down by the official Bruichladdich Twitter account.

Now there is semi-official word that Bruichladdich will not be offering their age-dated expressions outside of the on-site distillery shop, with the exception of a few Port Charlotte bottlings, the latest of which is travel retail-only. So the Twitter response was correct in that it is not being discontinued per-se, but availability will be nil after current stocks disappear from store shelves unless you're willing to trek out to Islay.

How did this happen? Essentially, it seems that there just isn't enough whisky in the warehouses to keep up with demand. It has been suggested that the Laddie 10 was actually a vintage release, reflecting the barley used in 2001. Even Laddie Classic, which is multi-vintage and presumably contains younger whisky, is only listed for sale as a 200 mL bottle on their own website. The new 'core' releases appear to all be NAS or younger vintage releases of the various barley experiments, e.g. Scottish, 100% Islay, or Organic. This suggests that not all is well in Laddie Land.

I think the most bothersome aspect of all of this has been the lack of communication. There was no formal announcement, which has led to the rumor and speculation. If there isn't enough stock to fill demand, say so, instead of quietly removing information from the website and hoping no one was going to notice. I didn't hear a peep about any changes to the lineup when I visited the distillery last September. The Laddie 10 was still being poured for samples and everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

They certainly wouldn't be the first distillery to drop most of their age statements, so why the stealth? In this day and age of whisky scarcity, it's absurd to think that no one would notice changes to the website or decreasing availability of their age-dated products. There are too many eyes to miss those kinds of changes. Why not get ahead of the rumors and state the situation clearly?

Adding to the situation, this should have been completely predictable. Bruichladdich knows exactly what is in their warehouse and the age of every cask. Demand for the new Laddie 10 was certainly high, but it wouldn't take a whole lot of math to predict the difference between supply and demand once orders started rolling in.  And given the date of the distillery's sale to Remy, the conglomerate had to know that this was on the horizon when the purchase was made. If they didn't, that suggests a rather poor level of due-diligence. And this is exactly the kind of situation that customers were worried about after the sale - a perceived drop in quality as age-dated whiskies are removed from the market. While Remy assured everyone that they would be hands off and let Bruichladdich manage itself, this seems like a pretty major lapse in judgement.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see how this plays out within the whisky community. I don't get the impression that this news has been thoroughly disseminated, given that there has not been a formal announcement, so it may be a while before it really sets in. In the meantime, if you happen to enjoy Laddie 10 or any of the other non-core releases, buy them now, because once the distributors are out, they're out and there's no telling when or if the situation will change.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2006/2012

Bruichladdich has become known for making experimental whiskies and this is one of the odder ones. Bere (pronounced like 'bear') is a very old strain of barley that was cultivated by the Vikings as they invaded Scotland in the 9th century. It is well adapted to grow in the colder, acidic soils in northern Scotland and has a very short growing season - roughly 90 days - which made it well-suited to the short summers in northern latitudes. Bere is a six row barley, whereas most modern varieties are two row. Six row barley tends to have a higher protein content compared to two row barley, which has more fermentable sugars, making it the preferred variety for most distillers.

Many thanks to Michael Kravitz for a sample of this whisky.

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2006/2012

©Bruichladdich Distillery

Nose: very strong and distinctive barley/grain notes, creamy citrus, green/vegetal new make, savory baking spices, a little vanilla and brown sugar oatmeal, maritime/salty, a hint of cheese. After adding a few drops of water, the malt becomes more prominent and creamier while taking on a slightly different character, while the new make notes retreat a bit.

Taste: sweet malt with a lemon accent up front, strong new make quality throughout, pepper/alcohol prickles, very light creamy oak with a hint of baking spices at the back. After dilution, there is more citrus up front, more oak and barrel char at the back, thicker mouthfeel and flavors overall, bittersweet character, and the new make notes become more integrated.

Finish: creamy light oak, malt, new make, grain

I felt like this was an interesting demonstration of how different strains of barley can change the character of whisky, but it's not something I can see myself wanting to drink on the regular. There's obviously a fine line to toe between letting the malt/spirit shine and tempering it with time in the barrel. I feel like Bruichladdich could have used some slightly more active casks or given the spirit a bit more time to mellow before bottling it. I've also tried Arran's Bere Barley whiskey, which agreed with me much more as it felt much more balanced.

With all that said, this is my own sense of taste. But I would recommend trying this whisky before buying a bottle, if you've been considering. Best of all, it'd be a great one for a whisky club to split (maybe compare with the Islay Barley or other younger Laddies?), so everyone can experience it without having to commit to a whole bottle.

Scotland 2013: Bruichladdich and Kilchoman Distillery Tours & Ballygrant

What was supposed to be one of the best days of my trip instead turned into one of the worst.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think I got some kind of food poisoning. This resulted in a miserable, mostly sleepless night as my GI tract twisted itself in knots. By morning, I felt terrible and could barely get myself to eat anything for breakfast.

However, I was just well enough to wander a few hundred meters down the road to the Bruichladdich distillery for the tour I had scheduled.

I was just holding it together by the time the tour started. Becky led us off to the building where Bruichladdich's malt is stored and processed. As with most distilleries, Bruichladdich buys most of its malt from a commercial malster, in this case Bairds in Inverness. Smaller quantities of organic malt are purchased from Orkney and even smaller quantities are purchased from local farms for their Islay Barley series.

After milling the barley in a fairly standard fashion, Bruichladdich adds the grist to their cast iron mash tun. It is one of the few left in operation and has some wicked looking rakes inside.

The mash is then fermented in Oregon pine washbacks for a fairly long 72 hours to give wash at ~7% ABV, a little under the usual strength. They use two different strains of yeast, K and M, which have shorter and longer fermentation times, respectively. Bruichladdich doesn't fill its washbacks very high - only 36K liters of the 45K liter capacity is used, which means that they don't need switchers since there is little threat of them bubbling over during fermentation. Somewhat like Bowmore, the washback room smelled kind of like maple syrup.

Bruichladdich has two pairs of stills. Each washback contains enough liquid for three wash still charges, filling each still to 69% of its capacity. The wash stills are fairly plain, with slightly descending lyne arms, which should give a moderately neutral profile, though their height will increase the lightness of the spirit a bit. The low wines are then transferred to the spirit stills, which are roughly the same height but have much more narrow necks, which should increase reflux significantly.

Wash stills on the left, spirit stills on the right, stillman in the middle for scale

The wash still spirit safe with temperature and pressure gauges 

The underside of the wash still, which would have contained a coal-fired burner before the advent of steam coils

One peculiar feature of the still room was the gin still off in the corner. Named "Ugly Betty", it's an old Lomond still that has been repurposed for making Bruichladdich's Botanist gin. However, it's only been fired up four times since it was installed - each run produces enough spirit for a quarter of a million bottles of gin.

From the still room we went into one of the bonded warehouses. The ground floor was dunnage, with more storage up on a second floor. It was fascinating to see the variety of casks Bruichladdich keeps on site.

Spanish wine barrels below tiny experimental casks

Basic ex-bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace

Biodynamic wine casks

Bordeaux wine casks 

Port Charlotte casks

Sadly I had to pass up a sample of Octomore aged in ex-sauternes casks that was handed down from the floor above - my stomach just wasn't up to it at that point. This was a shame, since I had been hankering to try Bruichladdich's Octomore Comus release, which was the same idea - heavily peated whisky aged in ex-sauternes casks.

We passed briefly back outside before heading over to the bottling hall. Bruichladdich is one of two distilleries on Islay that does its own bottling. It's a fairly labor-intensive process, though 'Laddie appears to be a bit up the scale compared to Springbank and Kilchoman.

The tour ended back in the visitor center, where we were offered samples of a few different whiskies. I tried a bit of the Laddie 10, to see how it compared to my bottle. It had the same acrid peat reek, but I was also not in top form that day, so it wasn't definitive either.

What really chaffed about being sick was that I had scheduled myself for a warehouse tasting after the tour. However, my stomach still wasn't feeling right, so I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry.

I stumbled back out into the sunshine around a bit before noon and walked to the B&B. It was really frustrating to feel so miserable on such a glorious day.

At this point I was faced with a dilemma. I had a tour at Kilchoman scheduled for 3 PM, which meant that there was theoretically more than enough time to pack up and ride there. However, I still wasn't feeling up to food at that point, so I'd have to push myself pretty hard just to get there. Complicating matters, I also needed to get to Ballygrant by the end of the day, as I was only staying in Bruichladdich for one night. So the question was whether I wanted to soldier on and see Kilchoman or play it safe and head straight for Ballygrant.

Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided to go to Kilchman and hope for the best. So I packed up, settled my bill, and (slowly) set off down the road.

It was only a few miles along Loch Indaal before I hung a left turn onto the B road heading west towards Kilchoman and Loch Gorm. While the road wasn't too bad and the traffic was surprisingly light, the terrain was rolling, which made it relatively hard going. Thankfully I only had a handful of miles to cover and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

To complicate matters, the last stretch to get to Kilchoman is actually a rocky dirt road. I was actually able to ride it instead of having to walk, but it was a close-run thing. By the time I finally rolled up to the visitors center, I was at whatever stage comes after running on fumes - it was a wonder I didn't actually pass out.

I had made fairly good time, so I actually had more than an hour wait before the tour started. Thankfully Kilchoman also has a decent cafe in their visitor center, which meant that I had time to refuel before the tour. My stomach had finally settled down enough that the prospect of food was finally attractive again. However, I had also reached the point where I was so tired that eating actually seemed like more effort than I could muster. I (very) slowly ate a sandwich and drank a Coke, which went a long way towards making me feel human again.

Eventually the tour began and Rebecca led us to the malt barn. Kilchoman had already produced enough malt to keep them going for a while, so the space was being used as general storage when we were there. When they are processing barley, each batch is roughly one ton and they do two maltings a week.

Kilchoman, like most of the distilleries on the island, sources most of its malted barley from Port Ellen. This barley is peated to a rather high 50 PPM. The other 30% is produced at the distillery from barley grown on their own farm. This is peated to a much more gentle 20-25 PPM. The local barley is kept separate from the PE malt, for use in their 100% Islay expressions. Rebecca also mentioned that Kilchoman is starting to experiment with unpeated malt, which I'll be quite interested to try if the whisky ever sees the light of day.

Because of the small quantities of malt Kilchoman produces at the distillery, that bucket in the lower left hand corner of the picture is enough to supply their kiln.

From there we ducked inside the stillhouse, which contains all of the other equipment the distillery uses in their production process. This makes their process relatively efficient, since the liquids don't have far to move between mash tun, washbacks, and stills. Kilchoman uses stainless steel for their mash tun and washbacks. Each washback holds 3600 liters of wash, which is fermented for a fairly long 72 hours to reach a standard 8% ABV.

The output of each washback is split into two charges for the wash still. The wash still is easily the smallest on the island, with a capacity of just 3230 liters, giving a charge of 56%. It has a relatively plain shape, though the lyne arm does slope down at a fairly shallow angle. Given the small size of the still (smaller objects have a higher surface area to volume ratio) and the lower charge, the spirit gets a fair amount of copper contact during its first distillation, though this is slightly balanced by the lyne arm, which will reduce reflux.

The low wines, which have an average strength of 25% ABV, are then piped over to the spirit still, which is even smaller at only 2070 liters. The bulb near the base of the neck of the still will increase reflux and copper contact, though this still also has a descending lyne arm, which will counterbalance that tendency. The foreshots cut is relatively short, ending only five minutes into the run. The hearts cut runs from a fairly high 75% down to a fairly low 63.5%, capturing a significant portion of the spirit. This makes sense, because Kilchoman simultaneously wants to produce a robust, smoky spirit, which requires a significant amount of heavier compounds to make it over, while also removing some of the less pleasant parts of the heads, which would require long aging to transform into more palatable compounds.

The steam coils inside the spirit still

Kilchoman currently has fairly low yield compared to the bigger distilleries (~400 liters/ton), getting 300 liters/ton from the Port Ellen malt and 260 liters/ton from their own malt. Given the lack of economy of scale at the distillery, it's not hard to see why their whisky ends up being fairly expensive.

The distillery's goal is to expand production up from 120K liters of spirit per year to 140K by doing seven mashes per week. Hopefully this will give them the capacity both to keep up with demand and set aside more whisky for longer aging.

When I visited, Kilchoman only had about 400 casks on site, with another 4000 tucked into various corners of bonded warehouses at other distilleries on Islay. Kilchoman primarily uses ex-bourbon casks from Buffalo Trace, with a smaller number of ex-sherry casks. They're also experimenting with other wine casks, like port, madeira, and sauternes. I can't wait to see how some of those turn out.

The first cask filled at the distillery

Most of Kilchoman's bourbon casks from from Buffalo Trace

I just learned that a new warehouse was finished in October, which will give them space for another 10,000 casks on site, eliminating the need to store any of their whisky at other distilleries. Both of their warehouses are the traditional dunnage type, with casks stacked three deep. While this makes for consistent aging, it does mean that it takes a lot of work to pull casks out.

Kilchoman also does its own bottling on site, though it's a slow and labor-intensive process. Automation will probably increase over time as their volume expands, but their goal is to keep it all on Islay to support the local economy.

Only four bottles can be filled at a time and they have to be moved by hand

At the end of the tour, we all got a taste of the latest 100% Islay release. It was significantly different from the Machir Bay that I tried last year - because it is made from the floor maltings on site, the peat is significantly less aggressive, letting the malt shine a bit more. Additionally, the whisky is made from spirit aged entirely in ex-bourbon barrels, which means that it doesn't have the hint of sherry that Machir Bay picks up from a short finish in ex-sherry casks. I really wish I could have spent more time with the whisky and tasted it under better circumstances, but it certainly piqued my interest.

Since my stomach had settled down a bit more, I decided to have a cup of hot chocolate at the distillery cafe before I left, as an extra boost for my ride to Ballygrant. It was, in a word, delicious, and I highly recommend having some if you ever visit.

After collecting my things, I once again set off. The dirt road was just as tricky going as coming, but I managed to traverse it without incident. While the hills were rolling and somewhat tough going, the general trend was down, which helped. Eventually I rejoined the main road and continued towards the north end of Loch Indaal, where I would turn off towards Ballygrant. The ride proceeded largely without incident - traffic was a bit heavier than I had been dealing with earlier, but people were still more or less polite. However, I was definitely starting to run low on fuel again by the time I actually rolled through the town of Ballygrant. Unfortunately, my destination was further on. It was a little frustrating not knowing how much further I had to go, but there wasn't any option other than to keep moving.

I am very grateful that I decided to find the Ballygrant Inn on Google Street View before I left - the signage isn't the easiest to spot, so it was very helpful to have seen a picture of the general area beforehand. I did get faked out a few times, but eventually found the right place with a decent amount of time to spare before sunset. There was another dirt road, but this time I chose to get off and walk.

Check in was a snap and my room was just off the lobby. The place was currently being remodeled and my room had clearly been refreshed recently. Unlike the B&Bs where I had been staying during the rest of my trip, it felt much more like a traditional hotel. While not as beat as I had been when I got to Kilchoman, I didn't have a lot left in me and basically collapsed right after taking a shower. I had another long day ahead and hoped that I would feel better in the morning.

Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 10 Year (The Laddie Ten)

While I've reviewed Bruichladdich's previous 10 and 12 year old whiskies before, those were both made from stock inherited when the distillery was purchased by Mark Reynier in 2000. The new "Laddie" 10 Year represents a new phase for the distillery as it is composed entirely of spirit made since 2001 under the new crew.

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.