Three peated Bruichladdichs

Recently I sat with a few very similar drams from Bruichladdich to do a casual comparison of them. These were 127.33 "Mouth-numbing mountaineering dram", a 11 year old Port Charlotte from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society; PL2, a no age statement Port Charlotte from the Elements of Islay range; and Octomore 6.1 Scottish Barley, a 5 year old heavily peated Bruichladdich.



Distillery: Port Charlotte (Bruichladdich)
Bottling: Elements of Islay
Age: NAS
Strength: 63.4%.

Nose: Light and mildly fruity, with citrus and lemon but lemon bathroom cleaner. Some unripe banana which hints are some fairly young malt in this. Light vanilla sponge cake. The carbolic notes are less than I have seen in other expressions, with the peat being exposed in more earthy farm notes which are again not uncommon in various laddie releases. There is also that sweaty sock element, which although sounds bad, is more like a good cheese. Leather couches in a freshly polished room. This has a maybe too raw and young feel which is slightly out of balance, and is the most spirity of them all.

Palate: Sharp with some sour fruit. Young malty elements and a rugged earthiness. Water drowns this a little and doesn't seem to add much to it.

Finish: Sharp oak, and some dry apple. Finish itself in general is pretty dry, and although it is fairly long the flavour dissipates before the spirit burn leaving the end of the finish unsatisfactory.

Notes: This was a little unbalanced and a little too raw.



Distillery: Port Charlotte (Bruichladdich)
Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 11
Distilled: 2002
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 63.5%.
Cask Code: 127.33 Mouth-numbing mountaineering dram
Cask Type: Refill Barrel, ex-bourbon.

Nose: A lot sweeter than the PL2 with banana, pear but also some richer red fruits such as strawberry. Boot polish, and getting a little savoury with Cajun spiced meat. Lots of vanilla and coconut and the wood isn't as sharp as the PL2 and in general the nose is a lot more rounded. That cheesy note is still prominent. Honey, crunchie bars (honeycomb) and a touch feinty.

Palate: Creamy, totally carbolic, very fizzy with sherbet. White coffee and citrus fruits. Water brings out more of the earthiness and some wax.

Finish: Long and leathery. Coal tar and liquorice.

Notes: Better than the PL2 but maybe a touch unbalanced still. While I love these SMWS Port Charlottes, the best and more balanced ones to me are the ones which are coming from sherry butt maturation which lends just that little extra sweetness and richness to the raw earthiness which is dominant in these.




Distillery: Octomore (Bruichladdich)
Bottling: Distillery Bottling
Age: 5
Distilled: 2008
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 57.0%.

Nose: Raspberries, elderflower. Pineapple and grapefruit tartness. coal sheds, vanilla, bounty bars, fishing nets, menthol cigarettes, medicated shampoo, sweet marzipan, sugar coated almonds, woody notes but like fresh timber rather than old oak. A little of that rawness which was in the PL2 but missing in the 127.33 is back again. Less creamy the 127.33 but also much more malty.

Palate: Sweet and creamy. Malted milk biscuits. Trifle and tinned fruit in syrup.

Finish: Long and malty, young and raw but no overpowering spirit. The pineapple and grapefruit again, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Notes: A lot more complex than the other two and you can tell it has been put together well. Surprisingly it doesn't seem that peated though given the pre-distillation phenol level.

127.39 Intensely Tasty (Port Charlotte 11 year old)

Distillery: Port Charlotte (Bruichladdich)
Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 11
Distilled: 2002
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 66.7%.
Cask Code: 127.39 Intensely Tasty
Cask Type: Refill sherry butt.


These Bruichladdich Port Chalottes grow fond on me as a no frills, no nonsense young peated punch in the face sort of experience.  If you are an Octomore fan you will enjoy these, and the Port Chalottes from the SMWS are no exception if you read my post from last year on cask 127.37 - Dinosaurs dancing to Stravinsky which has already developed an almost cult following after its success as such an amazing drop of spirit among some of my fellow bloggers and twittersphere malt maniacs. Will cask 127.39 live up to the bench mark?

Nose: Initially freshly squeezed lime with cola - Almost like a Cuba Libre rum cocktail. Lemons which seem to be a common trait in this spirit both as lemon sherbet sweets and also slightly bleachy as Lemon floor cleaner. Some bitter red apple, a little sharp pineapple but a sweetness from ripe banana. Some solvent like notes of Hubba Bubba bubble gum. The oak gives up its vanilla and dry coconut along side new wood and some pencil shavings. The sherry influence is lovely here and sadly was missing from cask ex-bourbon cask 127.33 (review coming soon) with creamy chocolate, ground almonds, glazed cherries and raspberries. Those wood notes combined with the peaty, earthy punch remind me of an old garden shed and everything you would expect it to contain, with perhaps tins of oil, diesel, oils, and paint but also old gardening gloves and wellies as well. There are also pots of soil and compost lying around. The smell of spring is in the air with greshly cut grass and farmers burning their fields.

Palate: The sweetness hits first with a real juicy fruit tang like biting into a grapefruit. Then comes the smoke, tar and oil.

Finish: Very long, syrupy and tooth coating with dessert fruits, being overtaken by TCP and tar and fading off into espresso coffee and dark bitter chocolate.

Comments: We have a winner. Is this as good as 127.37? I will need to do a side by side with the very little of .37 I have kept aside in my archive. I will be buying two bottles of this anyway and it will be available in the new outturn available on Friday 2nd May.

Black Bottle (old style)

Information

Black Bottle Blend
Burns Stewart Distillers
No Age Statement
Strength: 40%.

Black Bottle is a name I am very aware of, even from when before I liked whisky because it is blended in my home town by Burns Stewart Distillers and is often to be found in pretty much every pub in the area. Black Bottle is an interesting blend in that this is pretty much only sold in the UK, when the UK isn't a big market for blended whisky. This is a very Islay centric dram with malt from handful of Islay distilleries, and I imagine a good bit of Bunnahabhain which of course is Burns Stewart's own little piece of the Islay world. I have decided to right up my notes for this as the brand has completely been overhauled both in marketing and also more importantly - in the recipe. I will be following this up with a report of the new Black Bottle.

Nose: This is sweet and honeyed with the initial aromas quite savoury and slightly salty with smoky bacon, worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. There is also a distinct pickle like note which is like a picked onion you get with your fish supper, or dare I say it picked onion monster munch - which I hate and my wife loves - but I like this, and she hates whisky! hmm! A little wisp of cuban cigar smoke lingering around as well. Some smoked cheddar cheese, pepper, cloves, and on the fruitier side of things there is some red apple, and peach. Vanilla, cream fudge and Ovaltine malt drink. The grain is fairly obvious there as well of course.

Palate: Smooth and creamy, with a touch of milk chocolate with salted caramel. Slightly nutty and like chewing on a battenberg cake.

Finish: Vanilla custard with cream, a little carbolic and smokey. Medium length.

Comments: This is probably one of the best value for money blends you can buy if you like a good dose of Islay malt. Unfortunately the stocks of the old style will be getting less and replaced with the new blend. Hoard a few bottles if you can.

127.37 Dinosaurs dancing to Stravinsky (Port Charlotte 9 year old)

Information

Distillery: Port Charlotte (Bruichladdich)
Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 9
Distilled: 2003
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 66.5%.
Cask Code: 127.37 Dinosaurs dancing to Stravinsky
Cask Type: Refill sherry butt.

This is my first bottle from distillery 127, which is Port Charlotte (Bruichladdie operation) and is currently at number one dram of the year for me so far. You would think at 66.5% it would not be drinkable neat? That assumption is either wrong, or there is something wrong (or right?) with my tolerance to high alcohol spirits. In any case this dram I was keeping for a special occasion, and that occasion came sadly when my gran passed away. What better way to toast the life of an important person in your life than with a nice bottle of whisky and family. My brother, dad, cousin, and myself made very short work of this in one evening, although I caught my old boy putting ice in his at one point - what can I say he is stuck in his ways. Normally I would give him pelters, but tonight he can drink his whisky any way he wants to enjoy it. I managed to salvage 100ml left from the bottle at the end of the night and currently only have 50ml left!

Nose: Massively phenolic! Carbolic Soap which reminds me of the soaps I used to have to use in my old scout hall when I was a kid. I also remember being threatened by a strict nun teacher at school who threatened to wash my mouth out with it once. Lots of medicated shampoo and coal tar. Also getting mouthwash notes - that is Thymol, the phenol which is commonly used in mouthwash which also exists naturally in the herb Thyme. Earth and soil. Middle Earth! Lots of lovely fruity notes develop in time with Kiwi and lots of Raspberry as well! The compound that gives raspberries their smell is also a Phenol so is it possible that this is coming from the peat rather than the sherry cask influence which I often detect it in? Some strawberry in there as well, all served with some melted white chocolate! As my nose gets used to the peat other dimensions of aroma just keep developing.

Palate: In the mouth this is a big hitter. The alcohol is firey but not untamed. Huge peat and earth, and Jalapeno chilis. Sweet and nutty.

Finish: Huge and long. It just welds itself to your palate and throat. Sooty, peaty, salty. Refresher sweets. Berries with fresh cream. Did I say huge?

Comments: Why oh why oh why did I only get one bottle of this. From now on any time a bottle of 127 appears I shall get two! or Three!! This is at present my top dram of this year and with a week to go, I can't imagine something overtaking it.

4.174 Conflict between light and shade (Highland Park 1999, 13 years old)

Information

Distillery: Highland Park
Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 13
Distilled: 1999
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 53.0%
Cask: First fill ex-bourbon barrel.
Cask Code: 4.174 Conflict between light and shade

Nose: I immediately think I am drinking sweet pear cider at the beach. Lots of sweet ripe fruit. Pears, peaches and plums surrounded by salty sea air. Pineapple, lemon & lime and vanilla in "twister" ice cream lollies. I was discussing recently with someone that it must be a reflection of my West of Scotland diet that sweets, ice creams, and biscuits are more detectable than actual fruit! Creamy and honeyed. Lemon sherbet sweets, chocolate covered shortbread. Light and young but not harsh at all even at its higher strength with a lovely restrained smoke just contrasting all the lovely fruit and oak elements.

Palate: Lightly salted limes. Smooth, chewy and syrupy. The lemon and lime flavours really shining here with spicy pepper and nutmeg.

Finish: Long and biscuity, with the citrus coming through again. I have never tasted key lime pie, but I imagine in my head that this is how it tastes.

Comments: This is very delicious, highly drinkable and reminds me of some older Broras.The barrel unfortunately only yielded 84 bottles so there are only 84 bottles of this exact whisky in the world and they have all gone now.

Balblair 1990 (cask 1466)

 

Information

Distillery: Balblair
Bottling: Own Bottling (master of malt exclusive)
Age: 23
Distilled: 1990
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 50.4%
Cask: Ex Islay

Balblair 90 (cask 1466)

Nose

I need to discuss the peat elements up front, and what comes through on the initial nose is smoked pork but leaning towards the saltier, dried, cured direction rather than freshly roasted. Not being a big Islay connoisseur definate hints of Hospital Corridor, but not in a bad way and reminding me more of a spicy clove note than antiseptic.
Mango always comes through for me on Balblairs, but new is a sharp tang of something like apple juice. A tropical note of coconut and sea breeze lingers at the back, with a little vanilla spiced creamy toffee.

Palate

The peat comes to the palate first in an earthy, autumnal way. A little of the coconut and fruit comes through once the mouth gets used to the peat.

Finish

Bright and fruity at first, fading to bonfire smoke and burning tyres. Woody with a little cereal note like wheat.

Longrow Rundlets and Kilderkins 11yo

Information

Distillery: Longrow (Springbank)
Bottling: Distillery Own
Age: 11
Distilled: 2001
Bottled: 2013
Strength: 51.7%
Cask: Rundlets & Kilderkins.

This Rundlets & Kilderkins is unique in that the malt is matured in small casks called Rundlets & Kilderkins. The smaller casks meaning more wood is contact with the spirit and quicker maturation and more flavour. As the casks were smaller, they were often used in the smuggling trade in which was Campbeltown a stronghold.

Nose

First nose comes the smoke like a wood burning stove. After I get through the peat comes a lot of sweetness in the form of treacle, Toffee apples, and Maple Syrup.

Palate

Chewy Toffee and melting chocolate. Spicy.

Finish

Bitter sweet treacle, dark roasted coffee and vanilla. Rich and warming.

Comments

I normally find peated malts hard to deal with but this is really delicious when I get past the initial smoke. The other aromas the flavours really shine through.