Bruichladdich is a welcome home and one distillery I know well over the first two drams in this flight. Wither its the unpeated Bruichladdich, the heavily peated Port Charlotte or the big brand premium brand Octomore I know them all well and have never been disappointed by a release yet.

The Dram

This is my second Bruichladdich from Claxton’s which I have reviewed for this page. The 11 year old previously was a standout of the year. This time the whisky has been matured for 16 years in a sherry butt and again at cask strength. The 61.2% ABV is high because Bruichladdich put in cask at still strength not the more usual 64.5%. Each of the 372 bottles will be on sale for around £130 which is pretty good value compared to the 9-11 year old official bottles for £100-£120 that keep appearing just now.

Tasting Notes

Colour – mahogany

Nose – rich thick raisins soaking in alcohol for Christmas and mince pies. More of a sweet nose than some sherry bombs. Cinnamon continues the Christmas theme before some strawberries reminds us of our Summer.

Palate – That excellent brand mark Bruichladdich texture is here in this independent bottling. Cough sweets and leather make this darker than the nose with caramel cakes, prunes and milk chocolate in the development.

Finish – Another long long finish. This will be a theme in the Claxton’s whiskies for sure. A touch of water is needed but it brings out a hint of char and smoke even though this isn’t peated whisky. Generally though its mostly still a sweeter end sherry bomb with all the fruitcake, raisin notes you would hope for.

Final Thoughts

Even irregular readers to this blog will understand my Bruichladdich bias. They simply can do no wrong in terms of the products they produce. Official bottled are getting silly expensive as Bruichladdich the distillery becomes the powerhouse holding  up the entire Remy portfolio’s balancesheet. This gives companies like Claxton’s an opportunity to undercut on price without sacrificing on quality of whisky or presentation. The natural presentation and Claxton’s perfume style bottles tick the boxes on for me in all those points.