Bruichladdich 21 year old
Review by Bruichladdich
- Colour
Late afternoon Jerez sunshine.
- Nose
Dark butterscotch, cocoa–sprinkled hazelnuts, soft banana, prune syrup, plump dark raisins and Amaretti biscuits all jostle to take centre stage. The nose will also detect a zephyr of salty sea breezes. After the initial fiesta experience has calmed, beautiful soft green fruits emerge bringing lychee, passion fruit, melon and mango along with the sweetness of maltose and barley sugar.
- Palate
The full power and passion is best experienced without the addition of water. However, we leave that to you. It is a Grande Reserva or in Gaelic bival arfad - “Absolutely beautiful!”.
- Finish
A cultural melody, the wildness of Islay and the warmth of Spain combined in a unification of flavours that is heart-warming and haunting.
- Conclusion
Full and mellow, rounded and rich with a unique character that comes only from malts matured full term in Oloroso sherry butts.
- Note
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This bottling comes from an increasingly rare parcel of supreme Oloroso Sherry casks matured in our warehouses. It is the glorious end of an era and is unlikely to be repeated for some time.
It was 18th and 19th century wars with France that spawned the demand for Sherry. Once bottled in the UK, Sherry casks were readily used by the Scotch whisky industry in the absence of any others. Fresh Oloroso casks will continue to be sourced, but on a very small scale compared to the heady Sherry days of the sixties and before.
This combination of rich Oloroso Sherry influences and a full-term maturation in Islay’s Atlantic marine climate has created Bruichladdich’s richest, most shamelessly decadent and full-bodied whisky to date – an ideal dram for those important reflective, night-cap moments.
