Hello Again,
On the last day of my trip to Islay I tasted through a bunch of Bruichladdich's in the search for an epic bottle to buy. In the end I went for a bottle from the micro-provenance series (a series aimed at showing the differences between barley types, barrel types, even warehouse positioning.)
Mine was a 7 year old local barley from virgin European oak. I remember tasting it and it being one of the best I'd had that day, which is really saying something. I'd had about 10 whiskies at that point though.
Yeah, £90 for a 7 year old whisky, he must have been pretty drunk.
Well, I was but that's besides the point.
Had I drunk too much and just went for something? Or did I reach a higher realm of being and transcended the basic sense based perception of whisky? Who knows! In the meantime here's my review:
Colour: Gold (Which I find very interesting since some experts have said that the darker colour of Sherry matured whiskies comes from the European oak, not the Sherry that's been in it.)
Body: Full
Nose: Big. Ethereal fruit, creamy cereal, hot mashing grist, buttery and oily but amazingly fresh. Fresh and juicy fruit- Apricot, peach, orange, lemon, cream soda, fresh cream, strawberry laces, spearmint, an aromatic floral note, a mineral earthy note hinting at peat.
Water: The mineral comes out a bit more- Stony, a bit of alcohol, vanilla, vanilla fudge, orange flesh, a little sappy green-ness. A little earthy perhaps with wet leaves, damp earth, wet wood, wool. It hints at peat without the peat, a little like an Octomore.
More water: More fresh and creamy with lots of peach, apricot, elderflower and barley. More estery with tropical mango coming out after a bit.
Taste: Light but aromatic floral arrival, orange blossom, then a huge building development going slightly hot, hot mashing, cereal, barley, barley sugar, wool, some mineral lemon juice. A big orange undercurrent. Raw and powerful.
Water: Bigger arrival, spicy at first with orange and then citrus fruit with lots of lemon, intense amazingness, oh dear God, wow, some stony mineral, more juicy fleshy fruit developing- Orange, lemon juice, peach and apricot with raw barley going into the finish. Intergrated spice all the way. Raw perfection, very powerful stuff.
More water: More gentle arrival, more orange, more floral with elderflower and more building spiciness-Some hot white pepper with more mineral stoniness.
Finish: Long length. Fruity apricot and peach with cream soda and cereal.
Notes: Distilled 23/11/2007, Bottled 16/02/2015. 7 and a bit years old, from a Virgin European Oak Cask? Barrel? Barrique? I'd guess a French wine barrique that was rescued before it could be used. Troon (Locally grown) Barley. 468 bottles. Barrel no. 14, warehouse 13, L2H.
86/100
The first few tastes I scored this 90. Now however the nose is opening up more and becoming more fruity, but you get less of the raw power of the barley, which really is the main event for me for this whisky.
Having said that, it's undoubtedly one of the best I've had this year. Really reminds me of the place and the whole experience of being in Islay. For me this whisky is the epitome of provenance. A whisky derived from distilling Jim McEwen's blood wouldn't be more Bruichladdich than this.
They've just released the 3rd batch of these including a 12yo fully matured in a Port cask. Very tempting...
Update: Now I am half way through the bottle and the harsh intensity of this whisky sometimes gets to me. The wood and the alcohol are seriously intense, but seems to be best neat. Water unbalances it now.
Updated Score: 78/100
Updated Score: 78/100
Tried something different last night, adding a few drops of lemon juice (I know, sacrilege!!), and it reached a really great balance. Sometimes these crazy things work!
Lemon Juice Score: 83/100
Lemon Juice Score: 83/100
Thanks for reading!
Review #38
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