Bruichladdich Black Art 1990 04.1 Edition 23 Year

$37.50 CAN (roughly $30 USD) for 1 oz. at The Caledonian in Toronto ~2016. This was a steal, and last I checked they are now out, as are all bottles in my area. The inertia for me to buy a bottle was that the nearest store that I knew of that had this in stock was 45 minutes away. If it was closer, the $430 price tag would be no obstacle. I had a second ounce, and even bought a pour for a good friend, who was relatively new to whisky. He summarized the experience better than I could: “Wow. Fruity. Smooth. Salty. Wow. I didn’t know whisky could be so smooth.” I encouraged him to let the full finish fade before taking the next sip. After 10 minutes, he got tired of waiting and went outside for a smoke. NOSE: Bruichladdich’s whole tagline is that they believe in “terroir”, believe in the people, believe in Islay. Blah blah blah. Jim McEwen believes in France with this bottle. “La Marseillaise” plays in my head immediately when I smell the glass. You get hit with bordeux, cognac, and vermouth. Intense exotic fruitiness comes after, and now the music changes to merengue. Papaya, guava jam, mangoes. Just when you think you’ve gone as far away from Islay as metaphysically possible, the brine brings you back. What all those fancy sweet French cognacs are missing, apparently, is a wee bit of salt. PALATE: Orgasmic. The eyes roll into the back of the head. The toes do curl. You can’t even describe the arrival or the first sip, and you have to taste again. The fruitiness is incredible and powerfully delivered by a thick, viscous, briny liquid. Strawberry jam, raisins, sultanas. This transitions into figs and dates. Then you get some nuttiness with almonds and cashews. Then it becomes sweet again. What a rollercoaster! FINISH: Like a good aged whisky, swallowing is the beginning of the experience. The nose is re-experienced in the aftersmell as vapors rise from the depths of the gullet back into the nose. It’s cognac and sherry, with a decent warmth of alcohol. I dare not add water to temper this beast. Ever so slowly, there is a transition to more familiar territory; after several minutes, the taste dries and saltiness dominates. Perhaps there is a hint, or just a memory, of ash; maybe from peaty gamma radiation from whatever nuclear malting processes Bruichladdich uses to produce Octomore. VERDICT: This is not for a single malt purist, and is the perfect discourse for those just looking for something that tastes amazing, and those looking for something that exemplifies single malt whisky. This is as French as it is Scottish. I don’t mind at all. Jim McEwen has created the end-all be-all of wine-finished whiskies. If you see a bottle, and you don’t hate wine finishes, buy it. I hope the 5.1 is as good. MARK: 96/100.

Nose - Dark dried stone fruits, dark amber honey, hint of saline, toasted brioche, milk chocolate. Taste - Dried cherries, strawberries, cranberries, freshly oiled/tanned leather, hint of sea salt milk chocolate, faint medicinal/fruity honey, lighly drying mouthfeel. Finish - Long gentle sweet fruit leather, gentle warmth, hint of sweet tobacco, wisp of campfire smoke mixed with sea air, cognac/port like sweetness. Score - 94/100 Final Thoughts - I absolutely love the nose on this one in that it has a nice fruity salty chocolaty nose that is well balanced and not overpowering. Once it hits your tongue it delivers on pretty much everything the nose promised in a very well balanced package. The faint fruity/medicinal note is unexpected as it reminds me of goji berries, but not as metallic. The transition to the finish leaves this very pleasant warmth in your mouth like taking a sip of hot cocoa after coming in from the cold on a winter day. Although it's stated as unpeated, I get a very very faint wisp of campfire smoke like if you smelled a campfire on the beach from afar. Not overpowering, but a nice addition. This really reminds me of Bunnahabhain 18 which is another favorite. If not for the price, I'd love to have this on the regular.

23 years old Non chill-filtered Natural color 49.2% abv Nose: rich sweetness. Dark honey and maple syrup; chocolate; butter cream; slight oakiness; dark fruit in the background, like plum, raisin and raspberry; hint of spice, maybe cinnamon? Very layered and complex and evolves in the glass with time. Taste: incredibly rich and oily! Sweetness abounds with raw honey, milk chocolate, light caramel. Development comes in waves of coffee bean, juicy dark red fruit, slight herbal, orange/tropical, and well-rounded oak. It’s a ride. Finish: a long one, with chocolate-covered dark cherry, hazelnut, caramel/toffee and a slight saltiness and hint of mint. Value: avg around $400 USD. Worth it! Final thoughts: what a whisky! This is a unicorn bottle for sure, and one that is luckily still fairly available at the time of this review (Sept 2019). The complexity of this dram makes every sip an odyssey of flavors. Don’t miss this one, even at the high price point...it’s likely your favorite unpeated single malt. Final score: 5/5 Buy right now! Malt musing: “When you drank the world was still out there, but for a moment it didn’t have you by the throat.” - Charles Bukowski

Wow I thought the Dalmore Cigar wasn't to bad and a 4 star. This shoots straight to 5 on the first sip. I have paid a lot more for a lot less. It reminds me of a great Glendronach in a lot of ways although sweeter and with different components to the usual straight olorosso or px flavour. Bam raisins and dark fruit nose and palate. There is a hell of a lot more going on a mere mortal like me can't comprehend, sauternes influence is all over it, rich cognac like flavours. Personally I thought Bruchladdich was over rated. Most of their stuff is weak flavored. Even their Octomore range I find over priced and thin (but still 4 star rating before everyone starts sharpening their pitchforks :-) ), missing the richness of other Islays. This however has viscosity and richness to burn. Alcohol at 49.2% is perfectly balanced. It would almost be an instant 5 but I'm finding it a bit to sweet and syrupy the longer I get into it so more around the 4.5 mark, maybe slightly lower. Still very very nice and not a 4 so must be a 5. One of those weird situations where I rate something a must buy but I wouldn't due to the syrupy sweetness.

Nose: blueberry, peaches and cream, honey, toasted bread, tropical sea breezes, lemon zest. Taste: sweet honey, citrus, salt and pepper, cinnamon rolls. Experience: walking through a open air market on a chilly spring morning, sweet and zesty smells fill the airwith just a pinch of salt, if you stand directly in the sun you can feel it's warmth through the bisk air. Everything is alive and starting a new constantly changing as the day goes on. Final thoughts: I usually say no whiskey is "worth" more that $100 meaning that you can usually find something comparable to anything beyond that for less. (~$70 is the sweet spot). However, there is nothing like Black Art and it is one of the only whiskeys I would say is "worth" the money at this price. It is a fantastic bottle that is just as complex as it is enjoyable. A rare find but if you happen on it, I'd snag it. *This is from the old distiller. I've had the newer releases, and while they are still fantastic they are not quite "magical" for what that's worth. Still a solid choice if you have the cash.

Do I enjoy every note I get out of this? Not exactly, but do I respect every note, hell yes. Wow man, I thought the Ardbeg Kelpie was a complex dram, but this one is a complete mindfuck, but not all in a negative way. Usually, I stick to peat and smoke, but this is none of that. On this nose, I get spices, lavender, sherry goodness, and citrus. On the palate, there are mushrooms in there, I kid you not. There is tropical subtle pineapple mixed with chocolate and Chinese five spice. This is insane. Malty aftertaste on the finish with a hint of chocolate fudge. It's like reading War and Peace. It's exhausting, but a great exercise. There is literally so much going on that I think it would take an entire bottle to sincerely reach everything there. Thanks to a Dram Dude (you know who you are) for the sample.