I’m not alone in this, although there are many who aren’t exactly agreeing with me too. I generally really love Bruichladdich with a bit of age, from a bourbon cask.

I know I can count on a lot of nodding heads when I say that Bruichladdich did some things wrong with the six million wine cask releases between 2005 and 2015, but lately they seem to be on a roll.

I got myself a sample of this some years ago, although I don’t remember where the sample came from. Bourbon cask. 14 years old. A good bottler. Sounds good right?

Sniff:
Beatifully malty, with a very coastal salinity. Some heavy woodsiness (intentional third s). Some mint, brine and sand. Golden syrup on pancakes, strangely.

Sip:
Dry barley, dusty husks. Quite sharp, dry oak, some Scottish tablet, maybe some apple with the salinity from before. Very coastal, and exactly the style that makes a ‘laddie good! Lots of minerals. Mossy rocks and such.

Swallow:
Warming and dry. Some charcoal, some old apple, some tablet. Lots of barley again. Very good stuff!

In a way this is very, very straight forward, but I feel that Bruichladdich shines when it does that. I like that the Islay coastalness is present, but it’s not with the ‘regional’ smoke that covers it all.

With this still being available for about € 100, this seems a very acceptably priced Laddie!

89/100