|
|
Release Notes
Groovily packaged with a great picture of the moon on the tin to celebrate the anniversary of the first moon landing. Why? We're not sure. The important thing? The quality of the whisky in the bottle (which is good).
Royal Mile Whiskies
To Infinity and Beyond
Infinity was created to showcase the length of palate associated with Bruichladdich. This bottling, the third in the series, is an ideal digestif.Jim McEwan, Bruichladdich's head distiller, started his whisky career 45 years ago as an apprentice cooper rising to be master of the trade; he knows all there is about casks.That knowledge, together with renown distilling experience, led to his creation of Infinity 3, from specifically chosen casks out of over 35,000 maturing in our different warehouses.Quercus Alba better known as American oak, is inextricably linked with Bourbon production. But unusually, in this case, the association is entirely with Spain.Exclusively Spanish Quercus Alba, mainly refill Sherry and Ribero (tempranillo) casks, were selected for this multi-vintage single malt - from several ages, styles and peat levels.The peatiness has been upped slightly over the two original bottlings, stocks of which are exhausted. This is a general release with stocks expected to last until 2011/12.The brief for this decidedly personal cuvée was to produce a complex, multi-layered malt with a provocatively infinite finish: the ideal digestif dram - mellow, rich, spice and fruit.
Bruichladdich
3rd Party Tasting Notes
This new edition was matured in refill sherry + tempranillo and is said to be peatier than earlier editions (average 20ppm).
Colour: apricot.
Nose: full blown peaty, leathery and organic profile. Very 'tertiary', with quite some dried mushrooms, old leather, Barbour grease, dried flowers, earth and just tiny-wee whiffs of lavender. I must say I like this profile a lot, it's big, complex and rather unusual (hence entertaining).
Mouth: big peat, a certain 'Ardbegness', walnut cake, manzana liqueur, tangerines... A big fruitiness that was unexpected but that works well. Develops more on hugely peated lemons (yes, should that exist). The wine's influence grows bigger but the spirit can take it, no doubt.
Finish: long, with silky tannins, always these citrusy notes and always a big peatiness.
Comments: rather different from the earlier batches of Infinity, that were more sherried and beefy if I remember well, but it's still very, very good whisky for sure. Much recommended.
Rating: 88 points.
Colour: apricot.
Nose: full blown peaty, leathery and organic profile. Very 'tertiary', with quite some dried mushrooms, old leather, Barbour grease, dried flowers, earth and just tiny-wee whiffs of lavender. I must say I like this profile a lot, it's big, complex and rather unusual (hence entertaining).
Mouth: big peat, a certain 'Ardbegness', walnut cake, manzana liqueur, tangerines... A big fruitiness that was unexpected but that works well. Develops more on hugely peated lemons (yes, should that exist). The wine's influence grows bigger but the spirit can take it, no doubt.
Finish: long, with silky tannins, always these citrusy notes and always a big peatiness.
Comments: rather different from the earlier batches of Infinity, that were more sherried and beefy if I remember well, but it's still very, very good whisky for sure. Much recommended.
Rating: 88 points.
Whisky Fun
At first, what a colour - a sort of ruby-esque, sunset Pimms; like no other whisky I've seen yet (that'll be those Tempranillo casks?).
On the nose: gentle smoke fires, treacle, sultanas, touch of Christmas cake, maybe even vanilla, just a touch of red wine, then on the back end something more savoury, perhaps a pastry, or a cheese. It's a distinctive, pervasive aroma. Some whiskies you need to stick your nose in the glass; some you put the glass on the side and let the smell come to you. This is very much the latter.
On the mouth, it's really beautiful, not too oily, not too dry, just a kind of pleasant, balanced middle ground. This is strong, 50% stuff, yet it's not harshly overpowering. It's blissful. Wonderful sweet malts, what an unusual experience and with a tangy, peppery aftertaste. There are all sorts of things going on here, and none of them dominate the palette. Surprised that the smoke wasn't there as much as I thought it'd be, but the rest of the flavours more than make up for it - or perhaps that should be that the flavours balance it. All in all, it reminds me of the Glenfarclas 15, somehow, but there is more of that rugged, Islay spirit here.
Rating: 92/100
On the nose: gentle smoke fires, treacle, sultanas, touch of Christmas cake, maybe even vanilla, just a touch of red wine, then on the back end something more savoury, perhaps a pastry, or a cheese. It's a distinctive, pervasive aroma. Some whiskies you need to stick your nose in the glass; some you put the glass on the side and let the smell come to you. This is very much the latter.
On the mouth, it's really beautiful, not too oily, not too dry, just a kind of pleasant, balanced middle ground. This is strong, 50% stuff, yet it's not harshly overpowering. It's blissful. Wonderful sweet malts, what an unusual experience and with a tangy, peppery aftertaste. There are all sorts of things going on here, and none of them dominate the palette. Surprised that the smoke wasn't there as much as I thought it'd be, but the rest of the flavours more than make up for it - or perhaps that should be that the flavours balance it. All in all, it reminds me of the Glenfarclas 15, somehow, but there is more of that rugged, Islay spirit here.
Rating: 92/100
Connosr.com
The Distillery: Bruichladdich
| Established: 1881 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Bruichladdich, Islay, Argyll, PA49 7UNI, UK |
| → website |
In the new Millenium
The Bruichladdich distillery lies on the north shore of Lochindaal (directly opposite Bowmore), which made it the westernmost distillery in Scotland until Kilchoman was officially opened in 2005.
The overwhelming succes that Mark and Jim have had with the bottlings they released from these old stocks is a perfect illustration of the crucial role of careful cask selection; Bruichladdich was transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. Well, I"m sure clever marketing also helped.
Apart from the traditionally lightly peated spirit that is still produced under the name Bruichladdich, two more heavily peated malts are being produced at the distillery. A heavily peated (40 PPM) malt under the name "Port Charlotte" (the name of the village two miles south of the distillery) is being produced since October 2002 and they also have an even more heavily peated (80.5 PPM) malt with the name "Octomore". This is the name of another silent Islay distillery in the area, situated in a farm next to the warehouses of the old Lochindaal distillery. The original Octomore distillery was closed in 1852, three decades before Bruichladdich was built. However, a link with the past remains; Bruichladdich uses spring water from Octomore farm.
The Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed again in January 1995 and sold in 2000 to a consortium of twenty five different shareholders that operated under the name "Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd.".
Driving force behind the purchase was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Together with other seasoned professionals like Jim McEwan (formerly of Bowmore) they managed to get the production started again in May 2001. Although that new spirit probably won"t be widely available until well after 2010, the new owners also acquired a lot of maturing stocks that were laid down by Invergordon and JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Bruichladdich was constructed in 1881 by Robert, William and John Gourlay Harvey. Members of the Harvey family remained owners and shareholders until 1929 when the Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed.
In 1938 Bruichladdich (also known as Bruichladdie) was sold to Hatim Attari, Joheph W.Hobbs and Alexander W.Tolmie. And the distillery kept changing hands like a hot potato. In 1952 it was sold to Ross & Coulter Ltd, who in turn sold it to A.B. Grant in 1960. Invergordon Distillers acquired Bruichladdich in 1968 and expanded the number of stills from two to four in 1975, before selling it on to JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Until recently Associated Scottish Distillers also offered a so-called "bastard" bottling of Bruichladdich under the name Loch Indaal or Lochindaal. This bottle was named after the old Lochindaal distillery located East of the village of Port Charlotte, which used to have its own distilleries. Lochindaal operated until 1929 when it was dismantled. Its warehouses are now used to store the Port Charlotte malt. Until recently Bruichladdich was the only surviving distillery on the Western peninsula, but since the new Kilchoman distillery was opened in 2005 by proprietor Anthony Willis the number of western Islay distilleries doubled.
And the future looks bright for the friendly people of Bruichladdich. With the new bottling plant that was opened in 2003, Bruichladdich can now bottle its own malts on site, providing some much needed employment opportunities on this relatively remote part of Islay in the process. It"s much more convenient for Bruichladdich as well; before they opened the bottling plant they shipped tankers full of spring water from James Brown"s farm at Octomore to the mainland to dilute the whisky from the casks to 46%.
2000 - At the start of the new millennium the Bruichladdich distillery is bought by bottler Murray McDavid. Reports say that the price of the distillery was 6,500,000 GBP at the time - including maturing stocks.
2001 - The driving force behind the purchase of the distillery was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Shortly after the distillery was obtained by the new owners, Bowmore"s Jim McEwan was called in as production director.
2006 - The first bottling of Port Charlotte is released; a more heavily peated brand of the Bruichladdich.
2012 - On September 3rd the distillery is sold to Rémy Cointreau.
Trivia:
- For their first new bottlings the new owners used extremely lightly peated barley of 2 PPM.
- William Harvey (the father of the Harvey brothers that built Bruichladdich in 1881) was the owner of two other distilleries; Yoker and Dundashill.
- Bruichladdich distillery is open to visitors all year, Monday to Friday. Tours are available at 10.30am 11.30am and 2.30am (and at 10.30am on Summer Saturdays).
- Bruichladdich is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bunnahabhain, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
from Malt Maniacs
The Owner: Rémy Cointreau
| Established: 1724 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Avenue de Gimeux |
| → website |
Rémy Martin, a wine maker from the Cognac region founded the business in 1724. It was acquired by Andre Renaud in 1924. Through various acquisitions the company took ownership of champagne brands such as Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck, Mount Gay Rum. In 1991 the company changed name to Rémy Cointreau. Since then the group as acquired the Bols and Metaxa brands. On September 3rd the group acquires Bruichladdich distillery on Islay.
from Various