Bruichladdich Port Charlotte/First Cut

I hope the sight of this old git filling a bottle of Whisky doesn't put you off too much. This is something special - a cask strength bottling from the first distillation after the reopening of the distillery. I can guarantee it is cask strength as I filled the bottle from the barrel myself. For the record it is bottle 654 of 950 of cask number 007, distilled on 28th May 2001 and bottled in May 2007. Well, actually it was bottled in early June 2007. Bruichladdich put it on for the Islay Whisky Festival the week before.

It has a rich brown colour, which I find surprising as it has had only six years in a bourbon cask. The strength is 61.5%.
Nosing it I sense a nectar like sweetness with a strong woody smell.

This is one for gentle sipping at this strength. Tasting it, the power of the spirit is marked but not overpowering. There is a strong wood taste and there is also a strange combination of dryness and marzipan sweetness. I am not sure how it works but I can think of no other way to describe it. It seems amazing to me that this can be so good after only six years in the cask. It's character is such that it is thoroughly enjoyable without watering despite the alcohol content. If this is what the new regime at Bruichladdich are capable of then we are in for an interesting time as more of their handywork becomes available in the coming years. Adding a drop of water allows the marzipan to come through more along with a mellowness that defies the youth of the dram. To me this is a well made and thoroughly enjoyable malt whisky that makes me look forward to future specialities from this distillery. If you get the chance, take a trip to Bruichladdich and grab a bottle while you still can.

Bruichladdich Rocks

Here's another one from the Laddie stable I am afraid. Rocks has started appearing in our local supermarkets in place of the ten year old. I speculate that this because we are now into the gap when the distillery wasn't working so the stock for making a consistent ten year old expression isn't there. Rocks has been put together to plug the gap.

The colour is interesting being a light brown, with what looks like a hint of pink. On the nose there is warm fruitiness overlaying the spirit. Coming to the taste there is a hint of the marzipan of the ten year old but with a bit of peat as well. However the whole is not as mellow as the ten year old with harshness about it. It's pleasant enough but to me it is a bit of a fence sitter. It doesn't have the mellow simplicity of the ten year old but it is not a peat monster either.

Bruichladdich Infinity Second Edition

This is one of the bottles that came back with us from Islay. I gather that rioja casks played a part in its creation. At 52.5% there should be a good kick at least. It has a good brown colour with just a hint of red about it. There is a mustiness in the nose that makes me think of old fashioned sweet shops. Whew, it is a strong one. This is drier that most with a lot of wood. A touch of water helps the flavour develop but it was much better with Ronnie's water from the burn. It's making me think of the scent of a freshly pulled cork from a bottle of red wine.

The bottle is just half full as we opened it one night with Ronnie and Marie. The picture shows Marie, Ronnie and Dot on the steps of the front door to the Monachs. It is said whisky that is in the glasses held by Ronnie and Dot.

During the evening we ran out of water from the Burn so I was dispatched by Marie with an empty whisky bottle to get some more. She pointed out the general direction of the burn over a barbed wire fence. Well I managed to negotiate a second fence and fill the bottle without getting my feet too wet. On the way back I spotted that Ronnie had installed a stile over the fence higher up. I don't think Marie could have known about it as she was quite surprised when I returned with no search party required.

When we caught up with Ronnie in the morning he was feeling bad as he had an empty bottle of Infinity in the kitchen. He cheered up when I assured him that we hadn't actually drunk the whole lot the night before and pointed out that it was an empty bottle of the first edition, which was sherry casked. Happy days.

Islay in the Summertime and a bit of Bruichladdich Peat Ale

Way back in February I was enthusing about our planned trip to Islay. At the time we were told we would actually be there during the Whisky festival. It turned out that we missed it by a week. That wasn't a bad ploy as the distilleries still had the festival specials available without the crowds. I had meant to post to the blog every night while we were there but I am afraid good intentions went by the board in a malt induced haze. How does anyone manage to blog from Islay? So here I am a full fortnight after our return.

We had a tremendous time staying with Ronnie and Marie at the Monachs. There was a lot of catching up to do as they are old friends of my wife's parents. On the first night Ronnie whipped out a bottle of ten year old Jura, which he said was on special offer in the Coop! I recall it was a warming drink with a hint of butterscotch. For watering he had a bottle of peaty water from the burn near the house. I don't usually water my malt but using Ronnie's water was a completely different experience as it brought out the flavours magnificently.

During our stay we borrowed bicycles from Ronnie so that we didn't have to worry about who was driving when it came to sampling time. Hence the picture at the top of the page of Dot cycling past a local landmark. This picture was taken after our tour of the distillery so I must have been very controlled with the tastings. Maybe it was something to do with it being 11 o'clock in the morning. We did buy a couple of very interesting offerings from the shop, which I will say more about on another occasion.

On one of our trips we called in at the Islay Ales brewery. It is a great wee place and well worth a visit. The tour was reminiscent of home brewing on a big scale. As I write this I am actually drinking the strangest beer I think I have ever had, Bruichladdich Peat Ale. It has been brewed using the same peaty malt that Bruichladdich use for Octamore. At first taste it was a bit of a surprise but it is certainly growing on me. There is a strong medicinal taste which reminds me of Caol Ila. I have never had the chance to try Octamore to see if it carries through into that whisky. Unfortunately my chances of trying it are slim as we found out at Bruichladdich that the last batch is already fully sold although it is still in the barrels. The hop varieties used in the beer have matched up with the peat smoke flavours well to give a harmonious if strange result. As an aside, the other guests at the Monachs couldn't get over the fact that our brewery purchases were waiting in our room when we returned from our day's cycling. That's Islay for you.

Glenmorangie Ten Years Old

A couple of years ago I thought I was concentrating too much on Islay malts and should consider spreading my net wider. This Glenmorangie was on offer in the local supermarket so I bought it to try in view of the distillery's fame and reputation. It says a lot that I still have some left so that I can do a tasting for the blog.

It is bottled at 40% with a pale straw colour. The nose is a pleasant floral and honey sweetness. On the palate all I get is that typical mainland butteryness and not a lot else. If you like a straightforward easy malt this is for you, but I must say I prefer something a bit more complex and interesting myself.

Lagavulin Aged 16 Years

Whoops, I have been neglecting this log. It is always difficult balancing the action when you have two mistresses. Shortly after the last entry we had a trip to Porto. As a result the last few weeks have been dedicated to that delightful beverage. However, in less than a month's time we are off to the Hebrides with Islay on the itinerary so I had better start preparing the taste buds.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Bruichladdich and Bowmore, I decided to investigate the products of Islay in more detail. To this end I bought a bottle of Lagavulin 16 year old at a branch of Oddbins in London. The bottle looks interesting with an old fashioned looking label. I see it has been bottled at 43% too, so not too much adulteration I hope. In the glass it has a golden mid-brown colour. On the nose I am definitely sensing seaweed and wood. The former is not surprising considering how near to the waters edge the distillery is. As for the taste, wow, this is a big powerful one. The intial impression is oil as in trawler bilges, then there is peat and smoke in spadefuls. As it goes down a fruity citrus medicinal after taste comes through. There's something in here that I can't place but it reminds of some cough linctus I had in my childhood. Deary me, after all I said about whisky not tasting like grapefruit I have gone and described the after taste as fruity citrus.

Well that's three Islay distilleries visited in taste if not in person. Perhaps a tour of the others is called for. Then with all the expressions that Bruichladdich are turning out, they could keep me busy for a while. At the rate at which new distilleries are opening up on Islay I wonder if the journey will ever end. Of course, a bit of Port Ellen history won't go amiss either.

Bowmore Legend and a little Darkest

All at sea?


I must have been rather enthusiastic about Islay malts in conversations with my work colleagues following my discovery of Bruichladdich because the next Islay product I had the pleasure of sampling was a bottle of Bowmore Legend that they gave me for Christmas a while back. Now this is a workaday drink compared with some of the heavier after dinner malts that I have had since. However, it certainly has its place. I find it ideal for the hip flask when out for a walk on a mizzly day in the Hebrides. The most memorable occasion that I have had it was on just such a mizzly day on Coll last summer, when we went to visit Marie in the house that she was having built. She poured me a shot of Legend into a plastic cup that had been on the unglazed windowsill. It was wonderful sipping the golden liquid through the drops of Scotch dampness that were round the rim of the cup.

In time honoured fashion I have a glass of Legend beside me now. At 40% one has to think that a bit of filtration and colouring has been involved in its production. In the nose I am just finding a hint of peat in amongst what I can only describe as the smell of old wood. To me the taste is of peaty smoke on top of a honey sweetness. This was the first peaty Islay whisky that I tasted. Although the flavour is not as full and complex as some, the smokiness is very distinctive. It is a great introduction to the types of whisky most commonly associated with Islay.

The little Darkest comes in here because my wife picked up a gift set of three Bowmore minitures as a supermarket special offer in the run up to last Christmas. I think the were in my stocking from Father Christmas this year! The label says that it has been sherry casked; it certainly seems that way from the deep nutty brown colour. At 43% I anticipate a fuller flavour than from the legend. Giving it a sniff I detect a warm gentle spirit smell with sweetness and even floral hints. Yes, the taste is fuller than the Legend. Leather and wood predominate along with sweetness, mild peatiness and a slight medicinal quality.

Well I guess I'll just have to settle down and relax with what is left in the glass - such hardship. Before I do though I will have to update on our plans for our forthcoming trip to Islay in June. We have now discovered that the good folk who run the B&B we will be staying at are long lost friends of the family. It looks like we are in for a big reunion as well as enjoying the last couple of days of the Whisky Festival.

Now somewhere I have a picture of Bowmore that I quite like. I wonder if I can work out how to add it to this posting before my brain gets too addled.