Unlike most of the Scottish distilleries, Bruichladdich seem to actually put some effort in to their travel retail / duty-free exclusive offerings. In fact I'd say they're well & truly leading the curve. From the excellent Port Charlotte CC01, to the expensive but generally-delicious _.2 Octomore releases (particularly 7.2 and 10.2 if you ask me), and the fantastic and underrated Laddie Eight, Bruichladdich's releases stand out in the sea of glitzy packaging containing very forgettable whiskies that can be found in most of the world's airports. As frustrating as it can be for those of us who don't often travel internationally (which is probably most of the world this year!), these releases do give us something to look forward to when those rare occasions come along, or when a friend or family member is willing to play 'mule' with their duty-free allowance. At the moment there'll be plenty of whisky gathering dust in near-empty airport terminals, and a sizeable portion of it won't be missed, but in a few cases that's a bit of a tragedy! It'll be interesting to see how 2020 affects the emphasis that many brands put on this market, particularly those that work on exclusive releases that will have stopped on a dime with the current and recent restrictions on international travel and post-travel quarantine requirements. Maybe in the interim distributors can do some lateral thinking and release some of that stock to the general market. Bruichladdich's Australian distributor has done that with the aforementioned Laddie Eight, using it to fill the hole in their line-up when they sold through their entry-level Laddie Classic. The Eight actually comes in slightly cheaper than the Classic, and it's also the better whisky if you ask me, so get on to that one if you're a 'laddie fan! Let's hope that starts to happen with some more of these currently-neglected bottlings.
Back to today's subject, a 1990 vintage, 25-year old sherried Bruichladdich! 1990s Bruichladdich is becoming more scarce, last seen in 2013's Black Art 4.1 and now only in one of the extremely expensive 'Rare Cask Series'. The now much-loved Islay distillery was owned by Invergordon at the time, which became part of Whyte & Mackay a few years later, and it had suffered under their ownership, to the point where the distillery had been thoroughly neglected and production had slowed to a crawl before it was canned altogether in 1995 with the distillery's closure. Bruichladdich was famously rescued six years later by Mark Reynier's consortium, and the purchase included a significant amount of dormant maturing stock, although it had also been neglected by the previous owners. A huge amount of cask finishings (particularly wine casks) and limited editions were spearheaded by Mark, Jim McEwan and team, and the bottling that we're looking at here was no different. There are two separate parts to its maturation; Part one consisted of 17-year old refill bourbon casks that were transferred to first-fill French red wine casks for five years, before being transferred into first-fill PX sherry casks for a further four years. The second part consisted of 18-year old refill sherry casks that were then transferred into first-fill Oloroso sherry casks for seven years. So like many of its ilk this old Bruichladdich has had a typically complicated upbringing! The proportions of each part haven't been declared, but regardless it's certainly worked in this whisky's favour! Those final sherry casks were sourced from Bruichladdich's preferred sherry bodega, the widely-acclaimed Fernando de Castilla that is situated right in the heart of Jerez in southern Spain.
Properly sherry-influenced Bruichladdich official bottlings are few & far between, since the distillery tends to prefer wine casks and different types of fortified wine casks. But when you do find an example, they can be utterly brilliant - for example, this Friends of Bruichladdich single cask bottling, and Elements of Islay Br7 from the independent bottlers, which were both outstanding. Both of those were fully-matured in Oloroso casks though, so this 1990/25 will be very interesting, being finished in both PX and Oloroso casks, and for substantial lengths of time - more of an extra-maturation rather than a finishing really. This whisky was limited to 6,000 bottles and was bottled back in 2016, but is still readily available from the usual duty-free outlets - at least in Australia. Bottling strength for this one was 48.1% ABV, and there's no mention of whether that was the full natural cask strength, but it could well be given the age and the number of casks it's been through. Naturally (pun intended) it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, as is the case with everything Bruichladdich bottle. Pricing is quite reasonable at $590 AUD, which is significantly lower than many similar aged single malts - at decent bottling strengths - these days, but you'll obviously need to travel internationally to get the chance to pick one up - which is a real shame. The sample for this review came from a generous mate who brought this bottle along to a session to help celebrate his own birthday, and it went down a treat!
Distilled 1990, part one matured in refill bourbon casks for 17 years, then first-fill red wine casks for 5 years, then first-fill PX sherry casks for 4 years. Part two matured in refill sherry casks for 18 years, then first-fill Oloroso sherry casks for 7 years. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. Travel exclusive, 6,000 bottles.
Colour: Dark bronze.
Nose: Deep, fruity & dank. Thick grape must, roasted hazelnuts and rich dark chocolate mousse. Baked red apples, brown sugar crystals and orange zest. A little vinegary, sour rancio mustiness (cured pork), some dank old oak and dark toffee. Hints of chewy mint lollies, sour lemon boiled sweets and sea salt in the background. Dried tea leaves and old soft leather further in. Takes time to unfold (even after a 15-minute wait), but it's absolutely worth the time & effort.
Texture: Rich, fruity & decadent. Medium weight, gentle silky texture, no heat at all.
Taste: A little aged balsamic vinegar to start, then rich sweet rancio (almost dirty) sherry, orange peel and roasted hazelnut. Loads of dark chocolate mousse, sour dried fruit (think plum, black cherry & apricot with a couple of bits of lemon & orange peel) and a little vanilla cream. Tobacco, soft leather and bitter tea leaves. A little sugared (vienna) almond and a little soft ginger heading into the finish.
Finish: Medium-long length. Chocolate orange, rich vanilla cream, more aged balsamic vinegar and dark grape must. A little sea salt drying things out, some dark chewy toffee - from brown sugar, with a couple of dried sour raspberries and roasted nuts thrown in to the mix. Turning slightly herbal (dried herbs) and earthy.
Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Notes: Delicious dram! It's a musty, dank and deep Bruichladdich, but that sweet, floral and citrus-y spirit is still there in parts, so the sherry casks haven't completely stolen the show. There's a lovely decadent richness to this 'laddie that makes for an excellent dessert dram, or maybe a cigar malt if you're that way inclined, and it demands that you take your time with it. This is not a whisky to be rushed! And it's worth every bit of that time and effort - particularly on the nose. Just goes to show how different a sherry-driven older Bruichladdich can be, and how well it can work! This one is going on my list for the next duty-free / travel retail shopping opportunity.
It offers very good value compared to a lot of the more recent 25-year old single malts too that have skyrocketed in price over the last year or two. But since this is a 'duty-free' bottling maybe that's not a fair comparison. Still, it's saddening to think of these 25-year old Bruichladdichs that are gathering dust in the quiet, shadowy corners of the nation's duty-free stores at the moment. Let's hope some of them see the light of day before long!
Cheers!
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