
March 23, 2017

Bruichladdich, a best of

As the headline says.

Lochindaal 2009/2016 (65.7%, Caora, first fill bourbon, cask #r10/002-100, 343 bottles)

Caora are a new Swiss independent bottler from Olten, which lies very close to Alsace. This one-off baby from Bruichladdich was peated to 50ppm, so it may lie somewhere between Port Charlotte and Octomore. Now I’m not sure it’s very smart to start a session with a whisky this strong, cough, cough… Colour: pale gold. Nose: this instantly reminds me of the bottlings done by those crazy Swedes named Svenska Eldvatten. It’s powerful yet pristine smoky malt, in the regions of mezcal and gentian (which, by the way, they know very well in Helvetia). So far, so great. With water: a little lemon in a used ashtray, plus some damp hay. Mouth (neat): some kind of nuclear war happening on your tongue, but quite bizarrely, that’s bearable. Vanilla-ed smoked lemons? With water: immaculate smoky lemons and oysters, then tangerines. Unexpected echoes of old Laphroaig from the 1960. I’m dead serious. Finish: long, still pristine, ultra-clean, and beautiful. Comments: sublime young distillate by Bruichladdich with very minimal cask influence. I believe that was the key here. Grüezi miteinander! SGP:557 - 90 points.

Bruichladdich 15 yo 2001/2016 ‘Wild and Primitive’ (54.3%, by Silvano Samaroli)

This lovely bottle stems from Silvano Samaroli’s very last personal venture in the world of whisky, which he had supervised. It’s not from the current ‘official’ Samaroli range that did not actually belong to him, contrarily to what many whisky people believe. Colour: deep gold. Nose: burnt butter! I mean, butter just before it burns in the frying pan. Then a stunning development on cigars, smoked teas, some kind of smoked wild trout fried in, yeah, butter, and some kelp on an Islay beach. It’s a smoky Bruichladdich, so a Port Charlotte. With water: some wee bits of rusty iron and the kelp dried up. Mouth (neat): it’s not often that sherry and wild peat tango this nicely. No off-notes and no rubber, rather bags and bags of smoky Seville oranges, plus some peppered tobacco, perhaps. With water: gets very leathery, herbal, almost Tabasco-ish at times. Finish: long and cigary. Comments: now we understand why dear Silvano did call this ‘wild and primitive’. Impeccable selection, totally expected, even if I tend to like the cleaner and leaner style of the Swiss one a notch better. SGP:466 - 89 points.

Ans now perhaps a regular Bruichladdich?

Bruichladdich 13 yo 2002/2016 (52.7%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, micro provenance, bourbon, cask #12/214, 240 bottles)

There’s more literature on these bottles than in Dostoyevsky’s complete works! Now we’re very glad to learn that this comes from a micro-provenance, but we’d also love to know about where that was. Colour: white wine. Nose: we’ve made a long break after the peaters, so we do indeed get all the lovely melons and peaches that abound here. Golden barley, custard, some cut grass… With water: we kind of recreated the first batch of the new ‘ten’. We’re good, we’re good. And even better, we’ve added a few rooty notes. Mouth (neat): gorgeous melony arrival (I think our friends the Provençaux are making some good melon liqueurs), then rather more tropical fruits (whacky guavas), then more classic golden syrups, acacia honey, and simply sweet barley. With water: no changes, it just became lighter. Finish: medium, fruity, with a hint of fudge. Perhaps the barrel. Comments: different style, same huge quality. A fine session. SGP:551 - 89 points.

(Many thanks, Francesco)

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