What Does John Know?

Here’s the new “multi-vintage” line up from Bruichladdich, with three different levels of peat. All three are interesting, with a varying range of flavor profiles. It’s good to see all three expressions organized as family of whiskies. (FYI: “Peat” replaces the “3-D” in the line-up.)

Bruichladdich “Rocks”, 46%, $50
Fruit is the common thread to this lightly peated whisky. Red fruit, that is. Red raspberry, red currant, red seedless grape, strawberry, and red apple. A gentle sweetness (creamy vanilla, light molasses) balances all this fruit. Not overly contemplative, but delightful. This is definitely not the same Rocks I reviewed two years ago. I still have my sample and compared it to this new expression. This new one is richer, darker in color, and tastes more mature. It’s an improved version, and my rating reflects this.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 84

Bruichladdich “Peat”, 46%, $65
The most heavily peated of the three (35ppm phenol), but rather gentle for such smoke intensity. No doubt this is partly due to its sweet underbelly of vanilla cream puff, honeyed barley, and melon fruit. The other factor is that the smoke influence is not medicinal like some other Islay whiskies, but rather more of a leafy bonfire smoke, with burning embers and teasing brine on the finish. I liked 3-D better than this one.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 82

Bruichladdich “Waves”, 46%, $60
Only moderately peated (15ppm phenol), but a consistent influence. Quite fresh: reminds me of a walk around a traditional distillery, with notes of steeping barley, kiln smoke, and youthful spirit. A subtle, intriguing thread of gin botanicals (especially citrus peel) weaves its way through the palate. A bit too youthful. Otherwise, the smoke and fruit keep your attention.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 78

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 8:40 am and is filed under Reviews, Scotch whisky. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.