NFT: Bruichladdich Tasting Last Night (scotch FYI)

The tasting was done at St. Andrews Pub in the upstairs party rooms. Once we arrived we were provided with a complimentary Gin & Tonic made using The Botanist Gin made by Bruichladdich from the florals indigenous to the Islay area. I am not a big gin drinker, but through friends who are I have become better versed in it, and this gin is very nice. The floral comes through without any bitterness and provides a nice easy drink. I could very easily see myself sitting on the porch (OK, backyard since I don’t have, but want, a porch) on a summer eves drinking a pitcher of this.

We were then escorted (OK, allowed) in to the back room. The room was spilt in two with the kosher eaters sitting in the one room (with a third table of non-kosher, just so you don’t think we were purposely segregated (although we were by choice)). At each seat was a tasting mat with glasses a quarter full of the following Bruichladdich drams:
THE BOTANIST GIN
BRUICHLADDICH SCOTTISH BARLEY, THE CLASSIC LADDIE
BRUICHLADDICH ISLAY BARLEY, 2007 ROCKSIDE FARM
BLACK ART, 1990 EDITION 4.1
PORT CHARLOTTE, SCOTTISH BARLEY
PORT CHARLOTTE, ISLAY BARLEY
OCTOMORE 7.1, SCOTTISH BARLEY
OCTOMORE 7.3, ISLAY BARLEY

So, we were introduced to Michelle Fedor the US National Brand Ambassador for Bruichladdich Distillery who was going to be our tour guide through these whiskeys. (For those looking at the picture above, we moved from left to right, starting with the bottom row)

We were first told about all the wonderful botanicals in the gin and as I said, it is a wonderful gin, and very easy to drink on its own. It is pricy for a gin, but for those who like gin and want to try something amazing, this MUST be on your list.

We were then introduced to Bruichladdich Scottish Barley, The Classic Laddie. This is the fruitiest Bruichladdich you will taste. My nose smelled the sweet smells of flowers and my first taste was of strawberries, and after adding a dropper shot of water I was given a totally new range of smells of mint and toffee, and the taste of brown sugar and raspberries. A nice and wonderful everyday dram that I recommend to any whiskey drinker.

We then moved to our left to the Bruichladdich Islay Barley, 2007 Rockside Farm. We learned about the sourcing of the barley and how Bruichladdich has handshake deals with all its farmers and how they are one of the only (if not the only one) to get all its wheat/barley from local Islay sources, as well as its water source too. This particular dram comes from barley from the Rockside Farm (which we were told that also Kilchoman Distillery also gets its barley from (and what we were not told was that Kilchoman Distillery just bought (or has agreed to) Rockside Farm so this dram might end up being of very limited supply in the future). This whiskey is also very fruity, but more on the citrus side, the nose provided hints of orange peel and lemon, and the taste was of more citrus. Add some water and the hints of almonds and nuttiness comes through, and on the taste, toffee...wow, so nice and crisp. If possible grab it while it is still available.

Next up was the dram that many of us were waiting for and realized that the cost of the night was well worth it just for this dram, the Black Art, 1990 Edition 4.1. This is a marriage of different wine casks and whiskey sitting in them for different periods and different sized casks (it makes a difference in imparting flavors from the wood into the whiskey) and the result is a baby of extraordinary strengths and feats. Find someone who HATES whiskey and they will drink this with ease and pleasure and comeback asking, no begging (Zvi and Daniella did) for more.

On the nose you get milk chocolate and then dried fruits with just a hint of saltiness (got to get that Islay Sea in there somehow). The taste, wow, wow and double wow on top of that. Explosions of vanilla, and chocolate and some nutty flavors along with cherries and a nice grassy earthy (not peaty though) finish, after drinking it you are left with lingering port and more chocolate and some Crème brûlée flavors well after the glass was put down. This one did not get any water added since the flavors didn’t seem to warrant it, and I finished it on the first round getting different flavors every sip. I have been lucky enough to have had this dram twice, and each time it has reinforced my love for this distillery and my love and admiration for whiskey and its makers. A true art can be found in this bottle. Oh, and for those wondering about the Star of David on the bottle and its meaning and how it effects the Jews, it doesn’t and we were given some story about the man and woman and duality of the whiskey (OK, maybe that last part was made up, but the man and woman was really said).

We now moved onto the peaty portion of the tasting (how I wish I left some food over to cleanse my palate, but alas, Le Marais provided such delectable delights they did not last long for me)

Port Charlotte, Scottish Barley. OK, what a wake up from the previous whiskeys, at peated at 40 part per million (PPM) you get smacked in the face with the terra that is Islay. On the nose you get that peat and hints of tobacco along with that salt briny sea smell. Add a little water and it opens up with hints of plums and nuttiness. (The guy across from me got black licorice, which I could not find, but others did.) The mouthfeel is amazing, nice and oily and slides down the through very easily giving you that smoky peppery heat that whiskey lovers love (best at this is Talisker in my over blown opinion). Flavors that people called out where more black licorice and even BBQ (which one of my table mates said “so this is why you love this stuff so much, it’s the BBQ flavors) as well some muted hints of lite pepper to finish it out. A nice dram best suited for a cool evening with a fire to be enjoyed in a lingering manner. (Please, please and double please on top of that, never “shot” your whiskeys. Respect it and give it the time it gave to make it to enjoy it, once you do, you will forever be grateful.)

We next moved onto the Port Charlotte, Islay Barley, this one is also peated at 40PPM’s but for some reason seems more approachable to me. The nose was not as heavy a peat and smokiness, but still there of course, but more fruitful in the citrus vein. A little water made those citrus really pop in the nose. On the first taste you get a crispness that you would not expect from a whiskey so peated, but there it was giving us woody citrus flavors. Add a little water and those flavors become more prominent with hints of pepper lingering in the back. This whiskey lingers nicely in your mouth and can be a nice summer eves dram sitting out back with the humidity causing your skin to glow and cling, but darn it, you don’t care cause you got a nice summer flavor in your mouth and belly. This was my second favorite dram of the night.

We next move to the peatiest whiskeys out there, although some might taste peatier (yeah I’m looking at you Ardbog (50ppms)) but few create the approachable drinkability than the Octomores. Our first one was the Octomore 7.1, Scottish Barley. At 208PPM you would think people would be gagging in the peat, but nope, everyone loved it (well at my table they did). The nose lets you know it is a heavy peat with its slap in the face of sea but also with hints of vanilla and toffee, water brings out the fruit, but it’s tough to pull it out of the peat. The taste is a mouthful with peat and fruits fighting for its place on your tongue. Water tames the peat, and vanilla and honey join the party, all the while the sea and peat stay and force your brain and tongue to figure out what you actually tasted. Again, the non-peat drinker at our table was raving about this, and figured it must be for the high price that she likes it, and not because it is a wonderful dram.

Our final dram of the night was Octomore 7.3, Islay Barley (for the record, Octomore 7.2 is only available through Duty Free). This Octomore is at 169 PPM, and for some reason it comes off as peatter than its brother or sister (maybe they are cousins?) 7.1 (It might be the high alcohol content 63%). The nose on this is peat (duh) and hints of lemon (and that darn salty sea). Adding water brings out more scents of vanilla and toffee along with the lemon (and that darn sea). Once in your mouth you will remember that this is an Octomore, the peat smoke is right there on the front, the back and everywhere in between. Maybe it was because it was the last dram of the night and my palate was shot and nothing was gonna revive it at that moment (darn how I really wish I left some food to eat) but this was my least favorite. People said they got flavors of toasted marshmallows and while I could see where they were pulling it from, I had a hard time myself. Water at this point didn’t help me (please note, I am not bashing this whiskey, I know it was me at not them (ha, finally got to use that)) pull anything concreate out and say for sure, this is what I was tasting. But, again, people at our table who did not like peat in the earlier Port Charlotte bottlings absolutely gobbled these Octomores up and were thinking how they could like this but not that. THAT IS THE GLORY OF WHISKEY.

I had a great time and was glad that I went and got to taste these wonderful whiskeys with friends and people who love whiskey as much as I do. I look forward to doing these in the future and want to give a special shout out to Marlon Paltoo of Park Avenue Liquors and Madison Malt Drinkers for setting this up and Michelle Fedor and everyone at Bruichladdich Distillery for providing us with such great whiskey to taste and bring home (we each were given a bottle of the Laddie to take home for ourselves in a wonderful Bruichladdich Distillery bag). I look forward to drinking with all in the future; Sláinte