
July 4, 2016

Five big Bruichladdich

Some distilled by the older owners and some by the former new owners.

Bruichladdich 15 yo 2001/2016 ‘PHD_135’ (50%, OB, Feis Ile 2016, 1881 bottles)

A very cryptic bottling for this year’s Feis! It seems that ‘135’ is simply the age of… the distillery. It also seems that this vatting was finished in virgin oak. Colour: gold. Nose: and this sweet custardy and lemony oak does feel a bit, but balance has been found and I wouldn’t call this ‘vulgarly over-oaked’. Sure there’s a little green sawdust and damp tealeaves (or old teapot), but I’m also finding Bruichladdich’s usual melons and tangerines. Also a little eucalyptus, that may be the virgin oak as well. Orange sweets. With water: planks and a little soap, which tends to go away. Doesn’t seem to swim too well. Mouth (neat): the oak feels more, with some ginger, sawdust, white pepper, and really a lot of nutmeg. That’s a little too much for me, especially given that the distillate’s relatively light, even if that’s part of the original ‘lightly peated batches’. Around 8ppm if I remember well. With water: same feelings, the oak’s a little too obvious for me, and did not quite have enough time to mingle with the spirit. A lot of cinnamon. Finish: relatively short, with a green tannicity. Comments: I really prefer my Bruichladdich au naturel, monsieur. SGP:371 - 78 points.

Bruichladdich 22 yo 1993/2016 (48.9%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 228 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: there, melons, peaches, and the Atlantic. Perhaps I need not say more. Mouth: very fruity, peachy, melony, with some green tea, hints of lavender and violet sweets, and a growing citrusness, more around sweets and syrup than around fresh juices. A little green oak in the background, but we’re nowhere near the extravagant… What was the name again? Ah yes, PHD_135. Finish: medium, fruity, with a little more greenness. Fruit peelings and more green tea. Comments: I think I liked last year’s 1992 a little better, but this fruity Laddie remains tops, as far as fresh and fruity unpeated Islays go. SGP:551 - 86 points.

Bruichladdich 2004/2015 (59.2%, Svenska Eldvatten, fresh bourbon barrel, cask #1407)

Colour: white wine/straw. Nose: it’s got this bonbon-like thing that was already in the 1993, but it’s also got raw grass, hay, and grains. Barley sprinkled with drizzles of lemon. Burns a bit, that’s the high alcohol. So… With water: amazing, it just loves water! Perfect pot-pourri, Swiss cheese, hay, horse saddle, turnips, beef bouillon… Really amazing what water can do. Mouth (neat): sweet and lemony, with some plum eau-de-vie. That’s a sign of youth in my book. Very strong stuff, water is needed indeed. With water: and once again, water does wonders. Fantastic crisp lemony camphory herbal… Finish: long, ueber-zesty, but becoming a little smother after a while. Comments: forgot to mention grapefruits. I’d have reduced it straight away, it really loves my faithful Vittel water. SGP:651 - 88 points.

Bruichladdich 2006/2016 ‘Islay Grown’ (61%, OB, Feis Ile, valinch, Dunlossit Farm, cask #3304, 410 bottles)

Oh, a valinch! How many funny ones have we tasted already? This one might be ‘funny’ as well, it comes from a Rivesaltes cask. It’s been distilled from Chalice barley. Colour: gold. Nose: a lot of butter cream, custard, perhaps touches of new plastic, hand lotion, butterscotch… Not too sure… With water: another one that swims pretty well. Frankly, I quite hated the nose when it was unreduced, but this is nicer, pleasantly leathery, orangey, and raisiny. And thank god, the wine (I love a good Rivesaltes) is kept at bay. More or less. Mouth (neat): strange stuff indeed. Marc de gewürztraminer aged in oak, sloe gin, raisins, leather, black pepper… I have to confess I’m a bit lost. With water: once again, thank you, H2O! Good spicy fruits. Finish: long, peppery, gingery, and orangey. Comments: phew! I’m just wondering, if you want to put terroir and provenance on a pedestal – which is smart indeed, why use sweet wine casks from the South of France, instead of good old refill hogsheads? SGP:561 - 80 points.

Bruichladdich 2006/2015 (60.2%, Svenska Eldvatten, oloroso sherry hogshead, cask #511)

Colour: dark amber. Nose: fine oloroso. I’m not sure the distillate has much to say in this context, but I also remember some wonderful totally oloroso-ed Bruichladdich 1964. Or was it 1965? Chocolaty and flinty, with pipe tobacco and bitter oranges (skins). With water: perfect game-y, bacony, chocolaty, walnutty sherry. Could have been almost any unpeated distillate, but the end result is superb. Great sherry cask. Mouth (neat): huge and pretty perfect, mentholated and bacony. Strong snuff tobacco, leather, dried cardamom, bitter oranges, caraway. Plenty. With water: a perfect sweet and sour soup, Thai-style ;-). Really very very good. Finish: its always in the finishes that things may go awry, and it indeed it’s becoming a little rougher and perhaps a tad too grassy/herbal, but as a friend uses to say, you could always pour another dram before the finish even starts. Let alone the aftertaste (which is perhaps a tad bitter). Comments: just wonderful old-style dry sherry. SGP:362 - 89 points.

Check the index of all Bruichladdich I've tasted so far