Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
At long last I am at the end of my box of embarrassingly neglected Bruichladdich samples!! I thought I’d never get through them all. I guess it’s time to start swapping again!
Here are the last three, and it’s a random grab bag of expressions that didn’t fit in with the other groups.
Tasted on 3/19/2021, neat in a Glencairn.
Bruichladdich 13 Year (1993) Recioto Finish
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 13 years old. Distilled in 1993. Bottled in 2006.
Cask type: Bourbon + Recioto Wine Cask Finish
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 900 bottles.
Nose: dark stone fruits. Sea spray. Quite sweet. New leather. Toffee. Light cinnamon. A touch of earth. With Water: just a few drops really softened the nose far too much. Skip it.
Taste: lots of those dark fruits. Pepper. Sea water, salty. Toffee. Medium mouthfeel. With Water: Thinner, far more subtle.
Finish: sweet and fruity. Black pepper. Sea water. Caramel. New leather. A bit earthy. Medium-ish finish with lingering salt and leather. With Water: again, the finish is more muted.
Summary: This is really quite good, with a lot of dark stone fruits (think Bing cherries, figs, etc.), sea notes, toffee and cinnamon. Very nicely balanced, with a salinity that comes through well everywhere. It’s not the most complex dram, but it’s delicious. My only real knock against it is that just a few drops of water did some real harm to this one. Muted everything about it. I was hoping it would open it up a bit, but quite the opposite. I don’t mind when water does nothing for a dram, but seriously 4 drops made this the least fragrant of the three by a wide margin.
Bruichladdich used a lot of wine finishes to salvage some poorer stock from the previous owner, and this one does that quite nicely.
Would I buy a bottle? Nah. I mean it’s good, but it’s kinda simple and not my favorite flavor profile. If you could find one I bet the price would be pretty high.
Final Score: 87.
Bruichladdich Elements of Islay Br6
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Speciality Drinks Ltd (SMS)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 50.4%, cask strength
Age: NAS. Distilled in 1992. Bottled in 2015.
Cask type: 5 Refill Hogsheads
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: dry grass. Cardboard. Apricots and melons. Caramel. Ginger and pepper. Sea spray. Ethanol. With Water: the ethanol is gone, as is the cardboard. Good! More fruit, still quite grassy. Even somewhat floral now. A touch of nail varnish remover.
Taste: hay. Sweet apricots. Caramel. Seawater. Pepper. Quite dry. Mouthfeel is somewhat thin. New leather. Hot. With Water: the heat is gone. More fruit. Not as dry. Mouthfeel is also improved.
Finish: hay and dry grass. Sweet apricot. More seawater and caramel. Some mild pepper. Still rather dry. Medium length finish with salt, grass, and fruit lingering. With Water: Similar, perhaps a bit more fruit.
Summary: this is pretty good. Neat, it was initially pretty average. But a splash of water really helps this one a lot. The off notes from the nose go away and more fruit and grass pop with some added floral notes. Mouthfeel improves and is pretty reasonable. Overall, though, it’s a very simple dram with just a few notes that work pretty well together and are reasonably balanced. Not bad at all. Seems to get a bit more floral the longer it sits, which is nice, and honestly the floral development in this is what pushed it up for me.
I gotta say though, tasting these I completely forgot this was 23 years old. It doesn’t strike me as particularly old at all honestly. If you told me it was 10 years younger I’d believe you. I feel like I tend to get more complexity out of the older drams, and I just don’t find it here.
Would I buy a bottle? nah. Again, not my favorite flavor profile and I suspect the price on this if you could find it would just be too high.
Final Score: 87.
Bruichladdich 14 Year Links Series Carnoustie
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 14 years old. Bottled in 07/2007.
Cask type: Bourbon + Château Haut-Brion Finish
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 12,000 bottles.
Nose: sweet caramel. Apples, peaches. Wine. A touch of sea spray. Cinnamon. Oak. Vanilla. A touch floral. With Water: just a few drops, and it’s basically the same. Maybe more vanilla.
Taste: quite sweet wine. Caramel and apples. Peaches. A bit of seawater. A little dry. Cinnamon. With Water: same.
Finish: very sweet fruits and wine. Caramel. A little salt. Cinnamon. New leather. Medium length finish with sweet caramel and leather. With Water: similar, the leather in the tail is a bit bitter.
Summary: This is a pretty simple dram which is very good but poorly balanced. The wine dominates and it’s far too sweet. Some nice caramel apples w/ peaches on the side, and some nice sea notes tossed in there. Quite some oak throughout, too, and leather. Not bad.
Would I buy a bottle? nah. Similar rationale to the other two.
Final Score: 77.
Comparison
Order: Recioto > Br6 > Carnoustie
Easy ordering, the Recioto is a clear cut above the other two. I’m not a big fan of the Carnoustie honestly. It’s a fine dram, sure, but it’s far too sweet for me, and very simple.
The Recioto vs. Br6 is a little closer, but I do dig the darker fruit character to the Recioto. That floral note that develops over time with the Br6 is excellent though.
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 