...where distraction is the main attraction.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Bruichladdich 7 year old 2010 Islay Barley

I'd seen this wee set sitting on retailers shelves around the world for years before I got around to buying it:


As I'd mentioned in Monday's intro, I've always respected Bruichladdich's whisky exploration of various barley strains and sources. Often those bottlings have very little cask influence, which helps the drinker experience the spirit. A good thing!

I've tried other vintages of this set's trio, and even finished bottles of the earliest versions of Organic and Bere that came to The States, so this blind buy wasn't much of a risk. Dr. Springbank and Dr. Springbank and I opened these bottles a few days before this review, so I had a sneak preview of coming attractions.

First up, the Islay Barley.

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Expression: Bruichladdich
Ownership: Remy Cointreau
Region: Western Islay
Age: at least 7 years (2010-2018)
Maturation: refill(?) bourbon and French wine casks
Barley strains: Optic and Oxbridge
Source: eight Islay farms
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from my 20cL bottle)

NOTES

Barley, honeycomb, apples, apricots, lemon peel and citronella arrive first in the nose. Hot candle wax, grass in the warm sunshine, and flower kiss candy appear later. The palate almost reads like breakfast cereal, with malt, confectioner's sugar and honey up front. Apple fritters, oranges and white peppercorns linger near the edges. It finishes warm, sweet and spicy, with fresh ginger and baked apples.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Utterly delightful! If other baby whiskies were this clean and crisp, you wouldn't hear me whining about them all the time. While it would be interesting to chart the whisky's complexity if this same batch was aged in refill casks for 18+ years, I'm very taken by the bright simplicity of the malt at seven years. I'd happily purchase a 750mL bottle of this batch were it easily available, four years later. Also, what French wine casks?

Availability - Set and full sized bottle are scarce
Pricing - ??
Rating - 88