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Release Notes
Extraordinary to think of the great pride we felt when bottling PC5 back in 2006. In our hearts of hearts, none of us knew whether we'd still be around to celebrate PC10. This fantastic spirit's coming of age. It's been a long and rocky road but PC10 is here and so are we. This new Islay single malt has reached its first milestone. This PC edition celebrates the next generation here at Bruichladdich. Allan Logan is the youngest distillery manager in Scotland, and has been learning his trade at Jim's right hand for 10 years. He and the other young craftsmen coming through are the future of this distillery - we recognize them now. "Tro Na Linntean": Through the generations. A limited release of 6000 bottles only.
Bruichladdich
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Character: The ultimate spirit six-pack. The heat shimmering over the taste buds awakens the sensory system with sensations it has seldom experienced. Medium weight, satin smooth.
Colour: Luminous, harvest gold, honeycomb.
Nose: The opening is one of peat smoke and lemon juice, what an amazing contrast! On the second pass the malted barley and sweet, nutty, oak aromatics rise as one. The over-lapping fragrances are inter-mingling with the marine freshness that we know & love, hallmark of our island home, deep in the spirit lies the ripe guava, pineapple, gooseberry & honey-dew melon. They’re all cocooned within the cradle of smoke. Subtle notes of peppermint, pine and anise pop up like champagne bubbles. Aromatically, it’s absolute heaven for peat fans. The briny aspect is with you throughout, blowing in on the westerly slipstream - peated malt, sea air, succulent fruit, mellow oak, sun kissed barley, and soft demerara sugar.
Palate: The power surges onto the taste buds, detonating across the palate in wave after wave of flavour. The olfactory senses first detect the peat settling on the back palate, smouldering with intent. Then the combination of oak & barley take the middle ground & vanilla-dipped fruits hold fast on the front palate. With a second sip, the flavours integrate into a harmonious, vibrant taste experience, with the sweet, biscuity taste of the malt shining through to bring balance to the mid- palate. The natural oils hold all the components together giving a smooth- ness that chill-filtered spirits lack. The citrus, marine, moorland fresh- ness is a perfect foil for the peat flavours, giving a taste that can only be... Islay.
Finish: The peat-fire embers last long into the night, captivating one’s imagination of ancient life & times on this wild, Atlantic coast. The pleasure of sharing time with a spirit that is eager to please brings contentment, a soul-warming satisfaction. Manna of the wilderness.
Mood: Excited. Earthy. Primeval. Camp fire - the darkness and light, warm and cold, dry and damp, danger and safety. Boy scout, more SAS Bear Grylls than podgy Ray Mears.
Colour: Luminous, harvest gold, honeycomb.
Nose: The opening is one of peat smoke and lemon juice, what an amazing contrast! On the second pass the malted barley and sweet, nutty, oak aromatics rise as one. The over-lapping fragrances are inter-mingling with the marine freshness that we know & love, hallmark of our island home, deep in the spirit lies the ripe guava, pineapple, gooseberry & honey-dew melon. They’re all cocooned within the cradle of smoke. Subtle notes of peppermint, pine and anise pop up like champagne bubbles. Aromatically, it’s absolute heaven for peat fans. The briny aspect is with you throughout, blowing in on the westerly slipstream - peated malt, sea air, succulent fruit, mellow oak, sun kissed barley, and soft demerara sugar.
Palate: The power surges onto the taste buds, detonating across the palate in wave after wave of flavour. The olfactory senses first detect the peat settling on the back palate, smouldering with intent. Then the combination of oak & barley take the middle ground & vanilla-dipped fruits hold fast on the front palate. With a second sip, the flavours integrate into a harmonious, vibrant taste experience, with the sweet, biscuity taste of the malt shining through to bring balance to the mid- palate. The natural oils hold all the components together giving a smooth- ness that chill-filtered spirits lack. The citrus, marine, moorland fresh- ness is a perfect foil for the peat flavours, giving a taste that can only be... Islay.
Finish: The peat-fire embers last long into the night, captivating one’s imagination of ancient life & times on this wild, Atlantic coast. The pleasure of sharing time with a spirit that is eager to please brings contentment, a soul-warming satisfaction. Manna of the wilderness.
Mood: Excited. Earthy. Primeval. Camp fire - the darkness and light, warm and cold, dry and damp, danger and safety. Boy scout, more SAS Bear Grylls than podgy Ray Mears.
Bruichladdich
The nose on the PC 10 is less peaty than you would expect. It has more of a motor oil nose with some very light fruit notes in the background. The palate has malt and some fruit, maybe even a touch of sherry. Only later in the palate do you get with that sharp, less aromatic peat that is the mainstay of the PC series and harkens back to the oily, peat of old Ardbegs. It drinks surprisingly easily for the proof. The finish is mostly peat on the nose and some sweet cereal grains and maybe a trace of sherry on the palate.
Rating: B+
Rating: B+
Sku, LA Whisk(e)y Society
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