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.