This one must have sneaked in through a side door during the chaos that was and still is COVID. There were no warnings, no pre-alerts, and no marketing activities prior to this special bottle of Bruichladdich landing in the country. And then suddenly it was here, and then we blinked and it was gone just as suddenly. There was no fanfare, but then it didn't need much fanfare. This nondescript looking bottle is the first-ever Australian-exclusive bottling of Bruichladdich, and the first-ever single cask Bruichladdich to be sold in Australia, and the first of the distillery's Micro-Provenance series to be officially imported into Australia. As soon as the 'laddie-faithful caught wind of this bottlings existence, its days were numbered. While the usual suspects of Melbourne & Sydney received the lion's share of bottles for retail sale, us Queenslanders had to fight over just 24 bottles, available from just two retailers - one in Brisbane and one on the Gold Coast. Needless to say they were gone very quickly, and you'll be lucky to see any left on a retail shelf in the entire country. Some of the 282 bottles that this cask yielded were held back though, most likely for events and for the on-premise trade (bars & restaurants) who are only now beginning to revert to their full trading capacities. So with any luck, those who missed out - or are blissfully unaware - will still get the chance to try this precious liquid.
Bruichladdich's Micro-Provenance series, as you might have guessed, is about exploring (and experimenting with) variables like different barley varieties and barley sources, cask sizes and types, maturation locations, and the natural variance between individual casks. To use their full titles, these are "Micro-Provenance Cask Evolution Exploration" bottlings - which is quite a mouthful! All of these single cask bottlings are bottled at high strength - but not necessarily cask strength - and all list the barley variety that they were distilled from, the cask type they were filled into, the warehouse that they were stored in, and the exact dates of both distillation and bottling. They're usually only sold from the distillery's own website, but occasionally they're sold to specific distributors in specific markets, or specific customers, and they can occasionally be found in 200ml tasting sets in either Bruichladdich (unpeated), Port Charlotte (heavily peated) or Octomore (super-heavily peated) guise. This isn't the first Micro-Provenance Bruichladdich that I've had the pleasure of tasting - that honour goes to this exceptional Oloroso sherry cask that was bottled for Friends of Bruichladdich, followed by the 'Mp8' trio of 200ml Port Charlottes. That 'F.O.B' 15-year old Bruichladdich was fully-matured in a single sherry cask, which is a bit of a departure from the distillery's usual style - it's still the only fully Oloroso sherry-cask matured, a.k.a 'sherry bomb', official bottling of Bruichladdich that I've tasted.
This Australian-exclusive example is a little different. In some ways it's more typically Bruichladdich, being fully-matured in a wine cask, something much more commonly seen from this distillery. In this case that was a single Syrah wine cask, which is a heavier-style of French red wine that is similar to Australian Shiraz - in fact they both stem (pun intended) from the same grape variety. The finished wines tend to be different in style though, with Syrah being a lighter, less-intense style compared to the heavy tannic, peppery style of most Australian Shiraz wines. I'm not a red wine fan myself, and some red wine cask-matured (mainly Australian) whiskies don't push my buttons, but Bruichladdich seem to really know what they're doing with these casks. They have used Syrah casks a number of times in the past, with the delicious Octomore 7.2 (a mix of fully-matured ex-bourbon and ex-Syrah casks) probably being the most widely-known release. The other example that sticks in my mind is the distillery exclusive 'Valinch' hand-filled bottling that was available during my first visit to Islay back in 2017, which should make for an interesting comparison, although I can barely remember it now! This single cask Australian exclusive 'laddie was distilled on May 7, 2009 from Scottish Appaloosa barley - which is a two-row modern distiller's variety of barley. After ten years in that first-fill Syrah red wine cask, cask #1604, it was bottled on December 11, 2019 at an ABV of 62.7%, without any chill filtration or added colouring. The retail price on this one was $240 AUD, which is expensive, but not unreasonable considering that they realistically could've charged more and it would have sold out regardless. Let's do this!
Distilled 5/2009, fully matured in a single Syrah red wine cask, bottled 12/2019. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. Exclusive to Australia. 282 bottles, cask #1604.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Sweet, fruity & spicy. Stewed stone fruit, sweetened thick cream with a few berries thrown in, and red apples in the background. Some red grapes, mild tannins (wine rather than oak, I'd say), vanilla paste and roasted nuts - walnut and almond, maybe some hazelnut. Hints of liquorice and salted caramel fudge.
Texture: Heavy weight, thick & rich. A little heat (it's nearly 63%, remember) but very pleasant.
Taste: Soft sweet entry that builds very quickly and turns slightly fatty, with sweet thick vanilla cream, more stewed stone fruit (plum, peach & apricot) and more roasted nuts. Spiced dark chocolate and some drying spicy oak, with a little chilli salt (jalapeno salt).
Finish: Long length. That spiced chocolate is still there but it's creamy milk chocolate now, and the roasted nuts and warming chilli salt as well, plus a hint of star anise. The stone fruity & cream again as well but the oak has dried things out a little and has boosted the spice. Poached pears with a little sea salt to round things out.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: Very tasty, as expected! They've done a good job of choosing this cask I'd say, it'll suit the target audience nicely. Big flavours, overt wine cask influence, and big texture & finish. It's a fruity, flavourful whisky that is a different style of Bruichladdich to most of their current releases - although I'd love to do a side-by-side tasting between this single cask 'laddie and the MRC01 Port Charlotte - there's more wood and more punch, but with no shortage of richness. An Australian wine cask-matured whisky drinker will certainly find this to their liking, but it's softer on the wood, wine & tannins than most of those, and is definitely better balanced - which is a very good thing.
Since this single cask Bruichladdich has already sold out, it's a bit of a moot point, but any Australian 'laddie fan will want to get their hands on one of these. Just don't pay the flippers' prices if you can help it! Well done to Bruichladdich, and thanks for finally sending a single cask down under!
Cheers!
Hi. Enjoying an Octomore 10.1 on my neighbour's deck at the Grange. Where is the Brisbane supplier? Sounds like it's too late anyway. Thanks for your reviews. John
ReplyDeleteThanks John. It was Malt Traders in Southbank, but unfortunately they're long gone! Hopefully there'll be some released to bars down the track now that they're re-opened.
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