Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Four samples of various Bruichladdich Cuvee bottles should make for a fun comparison. These are all aged fairly normally then finished in various wine or sherry casks. Tasted on 12/4/2020, neat in a Glencairn.
Bruichladdich 21 Year Cuvee 382 La Berenice MG41 [L’Age d’Or]
Looks like this one was finished in Sauternes/Barsac casks and TIL those are sweet French wines.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 21 years old. Bottled in 2012.
Cask type: Sauternes/Barsac Cask
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: baking spices, pepper, oak, sweet, floral (violets), cardboard, light fruit (peach, melon), toffee, and walnuts. An initially strong cardboard note faded away with time in the glass.
Taste: spice, mild pepper oak, sweet, some floral notes, melon, toffee, earthy, medium-thick mouthfeel, spice fades, some salt.
Finish: sweet, fruity, floral with a nice array of baking spices backing it up, some caramel, more of those earthy notes, vanilla, medium-long finish on sweetness, fruit, and a hint of warm spice.
This is excellent. It’s a bit simple, sure, but very, very nicely balanced with excellent spice, fruit, and floral notes. Good mouthfeel and a long finish, I kept coming back to this one and it kept getting better. There’s an interesting mix of a brighter floral note in with a bit of funky earthiness that works very well here.
Final Score: 87.
Bruichladdich 21 Year Cuvee 407 PX La Noche Bicca Arriba
Finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, and carrying the name of a surreal story about an Aztec, a motorcycle, and sacrifice. I can’t explain it, but I will drink it.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 21 years old. Bottled in 2012.
Cask type: Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: dark stone fruits, light allspice, oak, ginger, melon, orange, mineral oil, figs, straw, toffee.
Taste: dark fruits, warm spice, a bit dry, thin-medium mouthfeel, melon, figs, oil, oak, spice builds a bit, an earthiness comes through, along with nuts, tea.
Finish: dark fruits, warm spice, still a bit dry, figs, a little melon, grassy, a bit of sea salt, tea, long mostly on the spice and darker fruits.
The fruits are darker than the 382. Dry, tannic on the palate, quite some sherry influence for sure. Nicely balanced, good mouthfeel, excellent finish. Like the 382, it’s a fairly simple dram. Overall excellent.
Final Score: 87.
Bruichladdich 16 Year First Growth Cuvee B
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 16 years old. Bottled in 10/2008.
Cask type: Château Latour – Pauillac
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 12,000 bottles.
Nose: pecans, overripe soft fruit, caramel, ginger, toffee, currants, cocoa, oil and wax, leather.
Taste: nuts, warm spice (pepper, ginger, nutmeg), toffee, a bit dry, thin-medium mouthfeel, ripe fruit.
Finish: pops on the fruit and nuts, toffee, pepper, oak, more dry now, leather, a bit winey, some earthy/leafy notes, a bitter note forms in the back of the mouth and remains through the medium length finish. Lingers with mild pepper, oak, overripe fruit, and that bitter note.
Hrm, that bitter note in the finish appears quickly and lingers, and while I don’t usually mind some bitterness this one is off. Really brings it down a notch for me. It’s a good dram, don’t get me wrong, with some nice fruit, nuts, and spice. But the finish lets it down, as does the mouthfeel.
If you had this one solo you’d probably be pretty happy with it. Side-by-side with the other three, well, it’s flaws become more apparent.
Final Score: 75.
Bruichladdich 16 Year First Growth Cuvee F
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 16 years old. Bottled in 10/2008.
Cask type: Château Lafleur – Pomerol
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 12,000 bottles.
Nose: bright fruits (crisp apple, melon, peach), mild ginger and white pepper, vanilla, wax, a touch of new leather, oak, very light maltiness.
Taste: melon, peach, mild pepper, somewhat thinner mouthfeel, vanilla, oak, toffee.
Finish: fruity, somewhat sweeter than on the palate, mild pepper, ginger, a touch tannic, more earthy or wet-leafy notes come through after a moment and linger, rather oaky over time, short-medium mostly on the fruit and some mild spice and damp earth. A little dry as it goes, too.
Interesting, a bit funky in the finish in a good way, fruits are brighter overall than the others. Much more spicy on the palate and finish than the nose. Rather simple overall, which seems to be the theme for the night. Some wine influences for sure here. Finish is shorter than expected. A good dram overall, but just good.
Final Score: 77.
Comparison
Order: 382 > 407 > F > B
It was a tough call between 407 and 382. Do you like it more spicy and floral, or more richly fruity? I went back and forth. All-in-all, the 382 wins out for that nice floral note in there. It’s a subtle, bright dram with an excellent nose and finish. The 407 is really good, too, and I tend to like the darker notes more, but this time the floral won out. Both are excellent though.
The B is an easy call: the worst of the bunch for sure. That bitter note is a shame, the finish is shortest and the mouthfeel the thinnest. I find the 382/407 to be a clear cut above the B & F.
Edited for formatting
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 