Bruichladdich Black Art 1989 03.1 Edition 22 Year

If you are lucky enough to try this whisky, make sure you’re able to spend some good quality time with it. This is a whisky that demands your attention and the longer you sit with it, the more you can pick out from it. That being said, its also a whisky that you can sit down with and enjoy without getting overly analytical. Now onto the review: This a nose that just keeps evolving and unfolding. Initial nosing reveals notes of cherries, prunes, honey, walnuts, musty oak, dark preserved oranges, dried apricots, raisins, molasses, a bit of a maritime quality of sand and sea breeze, and the barest hint of smoke. As you continue to spend time with it, you can begin to pickup overripe pears, peppery notes, maybe hints of vermouth, chocolate, and caramel. Going in for the taste, you get all of the notes from the nose before it continues to unfold into dark sugars, dark fruits, fortified wines like port and sherry, hints of red wine, a bit of a French oak-type spiciness and nuttiness, deep rich notes of oak mixed with spices like ginger and nutmeg. This is an unbelievably complex, interesting, and downright amazing whisky. It’s expensive, but if you’re able, it’s worth every penny. Goddamned spectacular! Got this for 50 USD for a pour.

Nose - Dark dried pitted fruits, hint of saline, hint of barrel aged pear cider, muscat grapes, toasted oak. Taste - Dried prunes/cherry sweet, dark oiled leather, sweet spicy tobacco, sea salt, white pepper heat, black pepper spice, dark fruitcake, sweet muscato or riesling sweetness. Finish - Lingering sweet spicky dark stone fruit sweetness, white pepper heat lingers with black pepper spice, barrel aged dark apple/pear cider, toasted apple peels. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This is quite a tasty dram. Very complex on the nose, nothing offensive, smells and tastes very "dark" and "bold." It's a very nice balance between dark stone fruit sweet and what I get in the background as a moscato or late harvest riesling sweet. A very nice balance with a great finish and great mouthfeel. My guess is that there's a mixture of some toasted french oak casks, port casks, and maybe some moscato or sweeter wine casks in the mixture. Compared to the BA4.1, this one is a bit darker in sweet profile as I get more fresh berry sweet in that one. I'm really glad I had a chance to try this one as it's a delicious dram throughout.

The best black art I’ve ever tried and possibly the best whisky I’ve ever tried. So many flavors and so much going on. Nose: Raisins, Honey, Strawberries, Raspberries, Jelly Beans, Coffee, Chocolate, Smoke, Caramel, Vanilla, Cherries, Mangoes, Peaches, Pineapples, Pepper, Plums, Flowers, Pears, Citrus, watermelon and green apple jolly ranchers, almonds, hazlenuts, papaya, oranges, coconuts, marzipan, passion fruit Palate: Raisins, Sour Cherries, toffee, dark chocolate, pepper, honey, flowers, black cherries, prunes, Meats, walnuts, almonds, cashews, cinnamon, toasted barley, mocha, citrus, smoke, blackberries, currants Finish: raisins, cinnamon, chocolate, cherries, toffee, pepper, apricots, truffles, sultanas, burnt pineapples, mangoes, citrus, almond pastry, vanilla, strawberries, raspberries From my guess, this was likely matured in a combination of bourbon, sherry, port, sauternes, red wine, white wine, and peated whisky casks.

N: quick hit of cake batter/egg tart, milk chocolate at the open. turns to jammy zin. Dried fruits of cranberry, raisins and figs. Slight fine oak saw dust/varnish. Complex. another swirl, another note. Very much like the 24 yr old armagnac I had last night. P: syrupy, full, round, oily. Drapes your tongue. Mouthfeel so important for me. This is one of the best. Dried fruit now replaced by fresh fruits carried over but goes away quickly. Vanilla and milk pudding takes over. F: drying to a Vanilla Coke. Not as long as I had hoped. Conclusion Very desserty. The nose blew my mind. Very complex and lovely. Not a single offensive note. I didn’t want to finish it so I can keep sniffing my glass. I need to revisit my BA6 to compare. I don’t believe the nose comes close.

Incredibly complex with aromas of fruity Sherry and some sweetness, maybe ice wine, as well as brinyness. The finish is incredible with an enhanced version of the sort of muskiness characteristic of Bruichladdich. 96

Beautiful dark fruits on the nose. Spicy, complex and rich deep on the palate. A nice lingering finish without being spicy. Beautiful. The only way it would be better was if it was cask strength.