Highland Park Cask Strength Batch 1 Whisky Review!

The anticipation for this whisky was huge during it's initial release in Europe, but all went quiet before it landed in Australia - sort of! This is an official bottling of Highland Park that is aimed at the enthusiast, and it's great to see.

There was a lot of excitement about this whisky when it was first released. It is one of the few current official bottlings of Orkney's Highland Park that is bottled at cask strength, and also one of the few that is actually declared on the packaging to be non-chill filtered. As is always the case, particularly over the last 18-months or so, this whisky took a long time to first appear in Australia, to the point where it was basically forgotten about. And as is sometimes the case, the first appearance was by way of parallel importation by an independent bottle shop, rather than the official importer & distributor. While only a small amount of this whisky was parallel imported by Melbourne's Nicks Wine Merchants, the demand down under was enough for them to sell out extremely quickly to eager fans of the distillery. Apparently there is official stock arriving in the coming months from the official importers, but that stock is going to be exclusive to one of Australia's whisky subscription services, where subscribers are automatically sent a bottle or sample/s of a particular whisky every month that is charged to their credit cards via direct debit, unless they manually "opt out" before a set cut-off date. Personally I've never liked this sort of system for any product or service, having to manually decline a purchase before you are automatically charged for it, rather than researching, finding and purchasing a product on your own accord. But I certainly seem to be in the minority there since these whisky subscription companies have become very popular in a relatively short period of time, and they now have the buying power to rival or override some of the largest drinks retailers, not to mention the combined smaller retailers and whisky specialists, here in Australia. 

Outside of the myriad of independent bottlings of Highland Park, these days more commonly named as the anonymous but obvious "An Orkney Distillery", cask strength official versions of Highland Park are very difficult to come by. Even the likes of the 25, 30, 40 and 50-year old official bottlings are not bottled at cask strength, and if memory serves the last appearance of a cask strength HP was the "Dark" and "Light" pair of 17-year old bottlings from a few years ago (although they weren't officially declared as being cask strength), with the exception of the Australian exclusive that was named after & bottled for the Mjolner restaurants/bars in Sydney & Melbourne (previously reviewed here). Those were limited releases though, whereas this new non-age statement cask strength whisky is the first to be part of the core range. Yes, this is not a limited release, but a core range bottling, due to be released in annual batches that we can safely assume are fairly large. The first batch that we're looking at today was bottled at a hefty 63.3% ABV, while the second batch has already been announced and is soon to be released in Europe at 63.9% ABV. Both batches have been "predominantly" matured in sherry seasoned American oak casks, so I'd assume the remainder of the mix were refill casks. I'm also assuming they've used the distillery's standard 80/20 ratio of commercially sourced unpeated malt to the in-house floor-malted and lightly peated barley that uses Orkney's local floral, heathery peat. Obviously given those massive bottling strengths these casks are not being filled at what was once the Scotch whisky industry standard filling strength of 63.5%, and they're also going to be relatively young whiskies, but that's fine - we enthusiasts want the distillery character and spirit character to show through in this sort of single malt, and I'm thinking that's precisely what we're going to get here. As mentioned above this is also one of the few Highland Park official bottlings that is clearly stated to be non-chill filtered, which is printed right there on the packaging and is great to see. 

For years now, fans of Highland Park have been crying out for the distillery to give them higher strength, non-chill filtration and natural colour - although they don't add e150 caramel colouring to any of their whiskies. Those three requirements are the whisky enthusiast trifecta, and for a long time there have been very, very few Highland Park official bottlings that ticked all three boxes, let alone a reasonably affordable one that is part of the core range. Another point that fans of the distillery have been crying out for was for the Viking-heavy marketing themes (such as the Viking Legends series, reviewed here) to be dialled back. We get that the distillery is proud of it's Orkney location and the history of the islands, but the Norse-themed marketing was getting very thick, very cheesy and downright off-putting, particularly when it came to the names of certain whiskies and the huge range of releases where very little (if any) factual information was provided about the liquid itself in exchange for paragraphs about some legend or that myth that had no connection to the whisky in the bottle. So it's fantastic to see the distillery listening to their fans and reacting to the market demand by releasing a cask strength, non-chill filtered and more simply-packaged & presented whisky that is aimed squarely at the enthusiasts. Heavier on the whisky, lighter on the Vikings. Excellent! It may have taken them a while to get there, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. You could even say that with this new addition the distillery owners are finally taking on some of the independent bottlers of their own whisky at their own game. At such a whopping ABV this Cask Strength Highland Park is likely to be quite intense without water, but I don't typically add water for these reviews so the whiskies are on an even playing field, and I'll be doing the same here. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who grabbed a bottle from the parallel importer. Interestingly I'm yet to see any Australian social media posts or whisky chatter about it, despite that initial release happening months ago, which is unusual. Let's see how it goes!

Highland Park Cask Strength Batch 1, NAS, 63.3%. Orkney, Scotland.

"Predominantly" matured in sherry seasoned American oak casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Mid-amber. 

Nose: The ABV is there, but it settles down quickly. Waxy & floral with dried fruit, roasted nuts and pot purri (perfumed dried flowers) that is heavy on the greenery - or, if you prefer, dried heather! Chestnuts, warm thin toffee sauce and a touch of dry, grassy smoke. Burnt orange peel, dried apricots and a touch of heather honey further on. 

Texture: Medium weight. Big & brash, a touch aggressive and very warming, but not harsh. Definitely smokier than your average Highland Park. 

Taste: More roasted chestnut, orange peel and apricot with that dry herbal/grassy smoke and runny toffee sauce. The raw alcohol is there again but the other notes arrive first, rather than the spirit-y heat being front & centre, so it works well. 

Finish: Medium length. A touch raw and very warming, with the alcohol still attacking the tongue. Behind that is a bit of tobacco and leather, burnt orange peel and the dried fruit. Floral, waxy notes are trying to break through but it's raw alcohol and grassy smoke that dominate the finish.  

Score: 2.5 out of 5. 

Notes: The nose is the highlight here, without a doubt. Everywhere else it's quite aggressive and a bit hot, and I definitely get the impression it's not designed for neat consumption. I've had many, many higher ABV young whiskies that were far more tame without water, but then I've also had a couple that were hotter despite being lower in strength and also (presumably) older. Provided you're used to cask strength whiskies this Highland Park will work for you, but if I was drinking it rather than reviewing it I'd certainly be adding water - in fact I did, post-review, for reference. As you'd expect a few drops of water calms it down and lengthens the finish, and it also releases more sweetness and vanilla, plus adding some creaminess to the texture. But it's still aggressive & a touch raw, and it still attacks the roof of the mouth, particularly through the finish. If I was to review this whisky with water added it would probably gain half a point, but that wouldn't be fair, so I haven't. 

The Highland Park distillery character is still here, as is the sherry cask influence but in a relatively subtle & balanced way - do not go looking for one of those "sherry bombs" here, that's not what Highland Park do, and it's no bad thing either. Personally, I would've preferred that they reduced this to 55% or even 50% and bottled it as a "Batch Strength" rather than release it at it's full fury. Tamdhu, Glen Grant and others have done that and seems to work fine. I have to wonder what ABV Highland Park are filling these casks at, surely it would have to be over 70%. Purely an opinion, but maybe that's why we haven't seen a young cask strength official bottling from the distillery before, possibly because they don't lose enough ABV or volatiles to the angels or the wood at these younger ages. Although countless independent bottlers don't seem to have any issue with that and release cask strength Highland Parks - or rather "Orkneys" - all the time. Still, this is a good step and it's great to see the distillery listening to, and appeasing, it's thirsty fans. 

Cheers!

Laphroaig 20 Year Old Murray McDavid Whisky Review!

20-year old cask strength Laphroaig. Can't really go wrong there! Laphroaig needs no introduction of course, but Murray McWho?

Murray McDavid are an independent bottler that we very rarely see in Australia. In fact they're very rarely seen outside of Europe. But this small and obscure bottler is not exactly short on major milestones, despite having only been around for twenty-five years. The company was established in 1994, and the names of the founders will sound familiar to us whisky geeks: Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin and Gordon Wright. The former two names are more widely known, but the latter was formerly a director at Springbank Distillery, and as you might guess from that surname, shared with J&A Mitchell's current chairman, he is in fact a descendant of the distillery's founder, Archibald Mitchell. Reynier now owns Ireland's Waterford Distillery, while Coughlin is still based at Bruichladdich but is now CEO of parent company Remy Cointreau's international single malt division. This trio went on purchase Bruichladdich Distillery in 2000, and I think it's safe to say that they basically rescued that now-wonderful distillery and turned its fate around. With a little help from a few others, of course! While the company utilised Bruichladdich's warehouses and bottling hall during their tenure, after the Islay distillery was sold to Remy Cointreau in 2012 Murray McDavid was purchased by whisky brokerage Aceo, and the stock went with it. Aceo also owns what remains of the Coleburn Distillery south of Elgin in Speyside, so that became the home of Murray McDavid and the company's other products, and while the distillery itself closed in 1985 Coleburn's dunnage warehouses and offices have been put to good use. The company also happens to own what remains of Parkmore Distillery in Dufftown, which closed in 1931 but is still in good condition. Oh, and Murray McDavid's logo (pictured above) is a great one: a picture of a dog with the Gaelic words "Clachan-a-Choin", which translates to "The Dog's Bollocks"!!! That cheeky slogan can even be found on early-2000s bottlings of Bruichladdich! 

Well-aged independent bottlings of Laphroaig are far easier to find these days compared to only a few years ago. Well, named independent bottlings of Laphroaig at least! There has been a steady stream of anonymous or subtly-hinted at bottlings, such as Williamson or LeapFrog, that do the absolute minimum to hide their distinctive origins without just coming out & saying it. Thankfully most of these independent bottlings are bottled at cask strength, without chill filtration or artificial colour, and this 20-year old Murray McDavid iteration is no different. Laphroaig at these ages takes on a different character to the younger spirits that we're all familiar with, taking on a softer and more balanced & integrated style, but not yet to the extent of the 25-year old and beyond which tend to become floral as the peat continues to dissipate over those long years spent in cask. There are always exceptions though, such as the mighty 32-year old official bottling from 2015 which had retained more of it's peatiness than I'd expected, and at the other end of the scale the 15-year old official bottling from the same era which was very soft and refined & citrus-y in comparison. But most of those official bottlings are relatively large vattings rather than single casks, so cask selection and blending plays a huge role in determining their final character, allowing the blender to steer the whisky towards the desired character. No such luxuries with single cask bottlings though! Likewise those older official bottlings tend to include some second-fill or refill casks, whereas this independent bottling has been fully matured in a first-fill cask, so there'll be more cask influence. Unlike that of some other Islay distilleries, Laphroaig's spirit tends to handle strong cask influence very well without losing it's character, so I don't doubt that this one has been carefully watched over those two decades of maturation. 

This is quite an old bottling, being distilled in 1988 and bottled at Bruichladdich's bottling hall back in 2008 after 20-years in a single ex-bourbon barrel. It yielded 235 bottles at 52.0% ABV, and is part of Murray McDavid's 'Mission Gold' series, which is their top-shelf brand for the more limited releases. As you could guess from Mark Reynier and comapny, wine casks feature heavily in this range, particularly in cask finishes or additional cask enhancements, as do rum, sherry & madeira casks. And many of these casks we managed and selected by none other than Jim McEwan back in the day! I've only had the chance to try a couple of Murray McDavid bottlings, since this tiny producer is another independent bottler that does not have an Australian importer or distributor, but have been impressed with both examples - although they've been quite heavy on the cask influence, as is their preferred style thanks to the extensive use of cask finishing. This one is a little different though, since it's been fully matured in a bourbon barrel rather than finished in some exotic type of cask. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who found this bottle at auction for quite a reasonable price considering its age. Let's get to it!

Laphroaig 20-Year Old, Murray McDavid, 52.0%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 1988, aged in a single ex-bourbon cask, bottled 2008 at Bruichladdich's bottling hall. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 236 bottles. 

Colour: Full gold. 

Nose: Rich, sweet & fruity. Salted butter, charred fresh wood and aniseed. Lanolin (sheep's wool oil), vanilla syrup, coke bottle sweets/lollies and ripe melon. Hint of sour green apple & ashy peat smoke. Sweetened lime juice and touch of oiled leather. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich, oily, & syrupy. No heat at all. 

Taste: Gentle sweet & fruity entry with floral sweet vanilla and sour green apple. Then thick, charred peat with warm ashy smoke & charred lemon. Melted salted butter and a touch of that aniseed again. Peat builds & dries things out into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Dried grapefruit, dry spicy peat carried through, with more sour green apple and a touch of red chilli flakes. Charred lemon again with that salted butter & vanilla sugar syrup. Grapefruit comes back through further on. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: A very tasty old Laphroaig, with plenty of cask influence - which certainly seems to be the Murray McDavid style. But since it's "only" a bourbon barrel (and also because it's a Laphroaig!) the distillery character still shows through, albeit a little quieter than some even older Laphroaigs. This bottling shows a buttery, fruity & sweet side to the Islay giant, but there's still plenty of peat and that lovely citrus that in my experience the good older (e.g. 15+ years) ex-bourbon cask Laphroaigs tend to show. This single cask is not as floral as the older bottlings like the 25-year old official bottling, although that's from a few different cask types and is purposely vatted for that different character. There's also not a huge amount of coastal influence in this independent bottling, which could be down to the more assertive cask influence. The bulk of Laphroaig is matured on the mainland, of course, but the distillery keeps all of the special stuff on the island. 

That said, this Murray McDavid bottling doesn't feel like it's missing anything, it's just a different style to what you might expect. And that's exactly what independent bottlings are meant to do!

Cheers!

Masam (Samaroli) No Age Blended Malt Whisky Review!

A cask strength blended malt from the legendary Italian independent bottler Silvano Samaroli, although this was actually bottled by his wife under the 'Masam' brand, and you won't find the Samaroli name anywhere on the bottle. It's a little complicated...

Samaroli whiskies are basically the independent bottling equivalent of old Macallans. A "sexy" brand that is very expensive to start with and subsequently very overpriced on the secondary market, but generally quite highly regarded and extremely collectable amongst both the aficionados and the speculating collectors. Silvano Samaroli started the company in Rome in the late-1960s, initially as an importer and then morphing into an independent bottler towards the early 1980s - becoming the first independent bottler of Scotch whisky outside of Britain. Most bottlings were cask strength single casks, with a few small vattings thrown in, and bottlings of old whisky from legendary distilleries such as Springbank, Laphroaig and Macallan helping to cement the small operation's reputation. Silvano sold the company and the rights to the Samaroli brand back in 2008, although he was still consulting for the company that bore his name up until his death in 2017. The Samaroli company continues to bottle Scotch whisky, adding half a dozen blended malts and also a few rums to the line-up, but they're still a very expensive proposition. I'm not sure how the following prices are reflected in Europe, but for a couple of examples, the official Australian importer retails their NAS Samaroli 'Islay' blended malt, bottled at 43% ABV, for a whopping $350 AUD. How about a single cask of 10-11 year old Caol Ila bottled at 49%? That will be $810 AUD. Ah, I think I'll pass thanks! Samaroli's wife Maryse has kept Silvano's legacy going following his death, separately from the namesake company, by bottling his private stock under the 'Masam' (as in Maryse Samaroli) and 'Silvano's Collection' monikers. 

This Masam Silvano's Collection bottling is simply titled "No Age", as in no age statement, and Samaroli had no misgivings about that practice. This is also a blended malt (a.k.a. vatted malt) - also no misgivings there, and rightly so. There were a number of different batches released, some at 43% and 45% ABV, but only two have been bottled at cask strength. This is the 2020 Cask Strength bottling, vatted together in 2016 and bottled at 52.9% ABV in 2020, and it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Unlike many blended malts, this Masam bottling has no problem telling you which distilleries' whiskies are in the blend. But in this case, it is really one hell of a list! The youngest whisky in the vatting was distilled in 2004, and the oldest was distilled in 1957! There are close to 40 different component whiskies so I won't list them all, but the "wow factor" components include some 1957 Mortlach, 1959, 1962 & 1965 Springbanks, 1967 & 1970 Laphroaigs, 1974 & 1976 Ardbegs, 1981 Port Ellen, 1964 Bruichladdich, plus a couple of vintages of Longrow & Talisker, among many others. Now obviously with only 310 x 700ml bottles in the release there won't be a large amount of most of the those components in this blend, but some of those names & vintages are true bucket list whiskies, so they warrant a mention regardless of the actual volumes. This would have to be one of the rarest & most expensive blend "recipes" ever created! These whiskies were blended and vatted together under Silvano's watch only a year before his death, and they were left to marry together for approximately four years before bottling. Naturally this bottle of whisky wasn't exactly cheap, but it was quite reasonably priced considering the rarity. 

The sample for this review came from a fellow whisky nerd who was lucky to nab one of the few bottles that was directly imported into Australia by Melbourne's brilliant whisky bar Whisky & Alement, who have put together a very good online store since COVID started ravaging the hospitality industry well over 18 months ago now. They're getting their hands on a lot of rare stuff both for their store and also their online tastings where samples are sent out by mail. They've also launched their own importing arm under the label Indie Whisky Co, focussing on small independent bottling brands like Hidden Spirits, Hart Brothers, James Eadie and of course Masam, which had previously not had decent representation in Australia. Right, let's see how this Masam 'No Age' blended malt goes!

Masam Silvano's (Samaroli) Collection 'No Age' Blended Malt, NAS, 52.9%. Scotland. 

Cask strength blended malt, youngest whisky from 2004, oldest whisky from 1957. From Silvano Samaroli's private stocks. Vatted together in 2016 and bottled in 2020. 310 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Very complex and very "old school" - minimal cask influence. Menthol, old leather & dusty old libraries. Slight mineral salinity and dry pepper spice, some rich malt with crisp red apple behind. A little musty, earthy dunnage "funk", also a bit of alcoholic nip on the nostrils. 

Texture: Medium weight, spirit-led but also has a very mature "feel". Touch of heat, though. 

Taste: A lot of complexity here, very old school again and no overt cask influence. Rich malt, soft leather & black pepper which turns into a drying smoked green chilli spice. Touch of petrol. Salt flakes, and red apple again but it's more powdery here rather than crisp. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Slight salinity and softer pepperiness, malty again but it's drier here, more husky & grassy. Warming spice and that earthy, musty dunnage again - not quite Springbank-level, but it's there. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely complex and engaging "old school" whisky. It's a bit of a chameleon too, changing from austere, spicy & salty to rich & malty, and there's a definite Campbeltown & Skye feel to it, plus a good dash of old Highland. Plenty of depth and plenty of layers to pick through, and a clear lack of any overt cask influence. Which is no surprise given the provenance of the components in this blend, no need for casks to get involved! At least as far as "additive" maturation goes. If you'd told me this blend was an old Talisker or Campbeltown (Glen Scotia rather than Springbank?) I wouldn't argue, although there's a touch of spirit-y heat to it which is a little surprising. That doesn't take away from the character of this blend though. And as discussed above, it's simple economics & mathematics that the percentages of those old, legendary, bucket list malts in this blend couldn't be too high. But even if there's only a teaspoon of 1960s Springbank & Laphroaig, 1970s Ardbeg etc. in here, I'm not objecting!

Since this is my first in-depth look at a Samaroli / Masam whisky I can't personally testify to how this fits in with their "house style", but from what I've read it's almost exactly what I had expected. Plenty of complexity and 'subtractive' maturity, subtle or minimal cask influence with a very healthy dose of spirit/distillery character. And that's pretty much exactly what we mean when we talk about an "old school" malt whisky. 

Cheers!

Bruichladdich 10 Year Old Old Bottling Whisky Review - Plus A Bonus!

There's nothing like a bit of liquid whisky nostalgia. Particularly when it harks back to a different era of Islay's modern history and one of it's more... Progressive distilleries. But this is a two-for-one. We're  looking at two opposite ends of the Bruichladdich spectrum here!

First off is a 10-year old unpeated Bruichladdich single malt. There have been a couple of iterations since, but this was the first edition of the 10-year old that was released under the distillery's new (at the time) owners that had rescued it from a 7-year period of neglect, including a 5-year period of outright closure. Back in 2000-2001 the consortium headed by Mark Reynier and the legendary Jim McEwan had a tough road ahead, including rebuilding a lot of neglected equipment and making use of of existing whisky stocks that were filled into cask prior to the distillery's closure in 1995. A myriad of cask finishes and limited releases left the gates on the shores of Loch Indaal in those early years, but I'd argue that it was the 10-year old unpeated core range bottling that held a special significance and really put the distillery back on the map. When I say core range bottling, though, it didn't last forever. There was this first expression that I'm looking at today which lasted until around 2010, then a revamped version distilled under the new owners circa 2001 which saw the name shortened to "The Laddie Ten", along with the pale blue tin that has since become an icon. That was then followed by the fleeting appearance of a second edition of Laddie Ten that was released in 2016, but with a wildly different cask recipe. None of them turned out to be permanent, and since then we're yet to see a core range / permanent expression of a 10-year old Bruichladdich hit the shelves. Instead the distillery has focussed on the non-age statement Laddie Classic, and a wide range of younger vintage releases including the Organic, Islay Barley and Bere Barley series of bottlings, while printed age statements don't come into it until you hit the higher price ranges. Meanwhile the distillery's heavily peated Port Charlotte brand has seen a 10-year old become a permanent / core range expression, after a couple of short-lived iterations were released in the previous decade. 

Will we see another permanent Bruichladdich 10-year old in future? There would have to be a decent amount of similarly aged casks sitting in the 'laddie warehouses on Islay, but I'm not so sure. When a distillery's younger whiskies are of such consistently good quality I don't think there's any need for an older age statement bottling in the core range. Neighbouring Islay distillery Kilchoman is in a similar situation, where their core range whiskies are the ideal balance between cask & spirit. Both distilleries want their fresh, fruity & sweet spirit to show itself, and when excellent quality spirit is combined with excellent quality casks there's no need for longer ageing periods. Age and maturity are often two separate things, and the all-important distillery character is kept intact by bottling at younger ages while keeping quality levels high. That seems to have become even more important for Bruichladdich under Adam Hannett's reign as Head Distiller, and also under Remy Cointreau ownership. The fancy & exotic cask types and more cask-forward bottlings are reserved for limited releases like the Micro Provenance single casks (spoiler alert - see below!) and older bottlings like the Black Art & Rare Casks series and the older travel exclusive bottlings. That's not the case with Port Charlotte though where we see more exotic cask finishes and more cask strength bottlings, while on the other hand Octomore does seem to have calmed down when it comes to casks - and also peating level - in the last couple of batches. Does that mean the unpeated Bruichladdich offerings are taking a back seat these days? Certainly not, I think it's more of a combination of the unpeated bottlings being more spirit-led and using more refill casks, and the Port Charlotte 'brand' having recently gone through a complete refresh from the range of expressions & cask types, plus the packaging and even the bottle itself.

This particular Bruichladdich 10-year old that we're looking at here was bottled circa 2007/2008, and at 46% ABV - the distillery didn't adopt it's current 50% ABV policy until the mid-2010s. What's interesting here though is that the distillery was closed from early 1995 to late 2000 under Whyte & Mackay ownership until it was resuscitated by the then-new owners in early 2001. Which means that a whisky bottled in 2007-2008 with an age statement of (a minimum of) 10 years can't actually be ten years old, and would have to contain some older whisky. There's no information on cask types for this older bottling, but we can safely assume that it was a combination of refill ex-bourbon and ex-sherry, plus possibly some finishing casks in there as well. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, which has been the distillery's policy since it re-opened twenty years ago. But that's not all folks... This review is a two-for-one deal! We're looking at two polar opposites from the same distillery, even without peat entering the equation, albeit from different stops on the distillery's timeline. The second subject of this review is a Micro Provenance single cask bottling, a.k.a. "Cask Evolution Exploration" - which is basically Bruichladdich's single cask program, not including the distillery exclusive Valinch bottlings. This particular single cask was exclusive to German bottle shop Weinquelle - which translates to "Wine Source" in English. This is an 11-year old unpeated Bruichladdich that has been fully-matured in a "Premium French Sweet Wine" cask, distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019 at a cask strength of 60% ABV. I'm no wine expert, but "Premium French Sweet Wine" is interestingly generic, because the term immediately makes me think of the famous Sauternes sweet wines. But Bruichladdich bottle a large amount of Sauternes casks and to my knowledge always label them as such, and that's also the case with Vin Doux Naturel / VDN and Rivesaltes, which would've been my second and third guesses. One possibility is that it was a similar style to one of those famous labels but it was made outside of the geographically protected areas that those names can legally apply to. Regardless, we don't know exactly what type of wine this cask previously held, other than it being sweet and French, but for our purposes that's plenty. These two whiskies are basically snapshots from opposite ends of the Bruichladdich spectrum, and this is going to be an interesting comparison! 

Bruichladdich 10-year old (old bottling), 46%. Islay, Scotland.

Bottled circa 2007-2008, distilled under Whyte & Mackay. Unknown cask types but presumed refill ex-bourbon and ex-sherry possibly with some first-fill finishing casks in the mix. Non-chill filtered and natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fresh & crisp, but certainly not as bright or as tropical as the modern younger 'laddies. Icing sugar, sweetened lemon, red apples and fresh flowers. Cooked spent grains / draff, and some orange zest, and a definite touch of sea salt. 

Texture: Medium weight. Lightly oily, fresh & warming. No heat at all. 

Taste: More cooked grains / draff, and a gentler sweetness than the nose suggested, more dried flowers and coffee crystals / demerara sugar here rather than the fresh flowers and icing sugar on the nose. Still a touch of salt and an added touch of dry wood spices.  

Finish: Short length. More citrus, lemon & lime in particular but I'd say they're both dried rather than fresh. Touch of that dry malty cereal grain as well. Sea salt, more dried flowers and a slight touch of vanilla.  

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: I'm guessing the spirit cuts were a little longer / wider back in those Whyte & Mackay days compared to the "new" regime. Coupled with more conventional casks than Bruichladdich tends to go for these days, plus I suspect some older casks in the mix, that would allow for much of the differences between this older bottling of the 10-year old and the contemporary younger equivalents from the laddie crew. There are still parallels though, which isn't surprising since they're mostly using the same equipment and they still have a similar ethos to that of the earlier days of the distillery's latest chance at life - and long may it continue. This is still a sweet, floral summer's day whisky with hints of the of the coastal Hebridean environment that it came from. It's very interesting to try a younger more spirit-driven Bruichladdich from this era instead of the older whiskies that were bottled around the same time, and it's easy to see why this whisky put the distillery back on the map for many. 

Bruichladdich Micro Provenance 11-year old, French Sweet wine cask, 60%. Islay, Scotland.

Single cask #1275, distilled 2007, bottled 2019. Fully matured in unspecified "Premium French Sweet Wine" cask, bottled for German bottle shop Weinquelle. 204 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Brass. 

Nose: Bigger & richer of course, but also much funkier and a little "dirty" & lactic. The sweet wine cask influence is obvious, with sweet stone fruit in syrup, and a touch of sweet almond pastry. But there's also a salty, cheesy lactic "funk"- think well-aged sharp cheddar cheese that has turned a little salty. 

Texture: Medium weight. Big & powerful, sweet and lightly astringent. Touch of heat, but it's a young whisky served up at 60% ABV so that comes with the territory.  

Taste: Syrupy sweet stone fruit - apricot & nectarine in syrup, plus botrytis-like sweet grapes. That's balanced by an earthiness and a little dunnage warehouse mustiness, plus some drying wood spice. Honey roasted nuts and that salty, sharp mature cheddar again. 

Finish: Long length. Spiced pears, more sweet almond pastry, and a little crumbly blue cheese adding a salty & funky edge. More sweet grape syrup and baked stone fruit. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: If a sweet Bruichladdich & a salty cheesy funky Kilkerran had a baby... And it works very nicely! This single cask has actually calmed down nicely since the initial opening. It was hot & uptight to begin with, then very sweet, then very funky & spicy. But now all of that has levelled out and the bigger picture is quite well balanced. Although it's still quite a sweet whisky as you'd expect. That earthiness is delicious, and combined with the saltiness and that cheesy lactic character it makes this quite the complex little number! I can't say I've had another Bruichladdich that is quite like this, in fact the Sauternes-finished Octomore 10.2 (reviewed here) probably comes closest, albeit with the added depth of light (yes, only light in that particular case) peatiness and without that dunnage funky-ness.

Overall Notes: Totally different, as expected. But this isn't a comparison, it's only a quick look at two opposite ends of the unpeated Bruichladdich spectrum. One young, spirit-driven old bottling, and one sweet, cask-driven but earthy & funky modern single cask. Both great. Oh, the sacrifices I have to make for these reviews... 

Cheers!