Review by: zSolaris
Distillery: Bruichladdich.
Region: Islay.
Age: NAS. Bottles in 2017.
ABV: 50.0%.
Batch Number: 17 / 144.
Casks:
| # of Casks | Distillation Year | Barley Origin | Cask Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 2010 | Scottish Mainland Organic | USA Bourbon Barrel 1st Fill |
| 2 | N/A | Scottish Mainland | USA Bourbon Barrel 1st Fill |
| 2 | N/A | Scottish Mainland Organic | USA Bourbon Barrel 2nd Fill |
| 1 | N/A | Scottish Mainland | Spain Pedro Ximenez Sherry Butt 1st Fill |
| 8 | N/A | Scottish Mainland Organic | USA Bourbon Barrel 1st Fill |
| 5 | N/A | Scottish Mainland Organic | Spain Ribera Del Duero Red Hogshead 1st Fill |
| 18 | N/A | Scottish Mainland | USA Bourbon Barrel 1st Fill |
| 10 | 2010 | Scottish Mainland Organic | France Rhone Red Hogshead 2nd Fill |
Price: $35 for 3 200 mL bottles of The Classic Laddie, Islay Barley, and Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated.
Color: 0.3, Pale Gold. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.
Nose: It’s quite bright. There’s a hint of birthday cake flavored bubblegum starts things off. Chalk follows through along with some acetone and a hint of sulfur.
Palate: It is quite sharp at full strength and a bit hard to taste. With a bit of water, notes of lemon come out. It’s followed by notes of sugary rice crackers (shelly snow senbei) and malt barley. There’s a bit of funk going on here, but not a ton.
Finish: Medium to short in length. It’s grassy along with some notes of hay. Some sulfur comes through as well.
Conclusion: Before opening this miniature bottle of The Classic Laddie, the last and only time I’d tried it was in a steakhouse in Las Vegas in early 2018. My thoughts of it, while a bit blurry (that entire trip was a bit of a blur, to be honest), were generally positive. Now I have no way of knowing or guessing what batch that bottling came from, but this particular bottling of Classic Laddie does not line up with that blurry image. It’s a bit all over the place with some birthday cake bubblegum in the nose, some fruit in the palate, and grass in the finish. The sulfur that comes in and out isn’t exactly the most pleasant note and I’m fairly sure I have a high sulfur tolerance. It’s alright in the end, just a bit disjointed and while it is an entry level dram, it does seem to be a bit away from the excellence that Bruichladdich can produce.
Final Score: 72.
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 
