Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2013

This is a 4.25 whisky that I'm upgrading to a 4.75 because there are only six reviews and some dipshit gave it a .25 bringing down the rating, making the community rating 3.18, which is the lowest community rating of the whiskies I own. The Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2013 hardly deserves that. Like I said, this is a straight 4.25 with no argument, no doubt. This is one of those I purchased during my shore trip this past summer and only opened now. And why did I open it? Well, it just made #9 on the Whisky Advocate 2022 Top 22, which always makes me curious about a pour whether I agree or disagree, plus the Eagles were playing the Giants. Huge divisional rivalry and I felt it deserved something special. I also have to admit that when I saw this on the shelves I picked it up without knowing anything about it other than the brand. I assumed it was peated, got back to the beach rental, read the words unpeated on the container and thought, well, hmmm. Then I looked up reviews and saw that Thijs Klaverstijn gave it a glowing review on his site Words of Whisky. And if you don't know Thijs Klaverstijn, he's one of the harder to please of the expert reviewers on Distiller, so I kind of, you know, trust him, though my tasting notes seem to deviate somewhat significantly from his (though not my appreciation). The nose here reminds me a great deal less of a standard Islay and more of Dalwhinnie. It's floral, full of honey with the slightest trace of smoke thought since it's unpeated that's more of a barbeque smoke than it is a peat smoke. Barrel char? On the palate the floral honeyed notes continue with a slight citrus edge and pear. The finish is long with a white pepper, ginger tang. Now this was only the first taste and it was one pour so it may evolve over time, but this drinks older than the 8 years it professes on the packaging, and I'm looking forward to trying this again. We didn't continue throughout the night with this, as we watched the Eagles trounce the Giants (with all due respect there were questions after Philly lost to Washington and then barely eeked by Indianapolis whether they were the real deal, but after the past three weeks, is there any doubt?) , but shifted to various other whiskies. I got my dad a bottle of Teeling Blackpitts for his birthday, which we sampled. Then we switched to JW Green and finished with the JD SBBP, so it was pretty much a high quality pour day, but the Bruichladdich stood high among the pours. Like I've said, I'm grading on a curve to pull the community score up. .25? really? I wouldn't even rate the piss that is Jim Beam White Label .25, and certainly a dram like this shouldn't be that low. Don't know why it bothers me that much except the review was a mix of non-sensical words and the profile looks like a bot, and I feel like that does a good whisky wrong, and if we don't stand up for the good whiskies, well then, who will? Am I right?

Nose is apples, green grass, cut hay and faint whisps of salt reminiscent of wind blowing in off the harbor in the hot summer. Nice, but it doesn't bring me back to the glass. Palate is warm and creamy, sweet vanilla and then a dash of lemon peel followed by apples. What starts off soft and smooth turns a bit hot mid-palate, and the apples are replaced with oak and cracked black pepper at the close. A few drops of water open add heat to the nose and open the palate enough that the fruits linger longer and the finish isn't as hot or dry. With the nose not much for me anyway, I prefer with the water. I like the terroir experiment, and appreciate that the distillery is buying from Islay farms. This might be more compelling if I had another sample from a different year or different farm(s) to compare and contrast, but standing alone I find it's just another decent example in a sea of an island Scotch.

My first few pours were underwhelming from this bottle. As a peat lover, theres plenty to love of all things islay, so i was quite excited for this one. The first few pours left plenty to the imagination, but after being open for a few weeks, i revisited today. Upon first sip, i explored my brain for the sensation i was experiencing. I smiled as i found it. Once this bottle opened up, it took me back to walking along a grassy meadow with sporadic bushes and trees with my little brother around 10 years old. We would look for honeysuckle flowers and pull the middle out for the same sweet nectar the bees were searching for. The taste was extremely sweet, floral, and only on the palate for a moment. As soon as you got a good one, you hungered for another taste. Thats how i feel about this bottle. Its a short finish, but while its there, its an innocent, sweet, delicate offering.

Nose: Ripe Apple, Pear, Vanilla, Malt Sweetness, Pepper, Honeysuckle, Floral notes, cookie dough. Palate: Malt Sugar, Umami, Vanilla, Apple, Light Honey, Full and Oily, sweet Peppery Finish. A wonderful bottle of whisky from Bruichladdich, and a unique expression of Islay whisky that is unpeated. Full, oily, rich, complex, lots of malt sweetness mixes with light fruits, pepper, and hints of honey. Long malt and saline finish. Much better than the classic laddie in my opinion. The difference in complexity comes down to age. Even though this has a strong spirit influence the few extra years spent in the barrel really helps make this whisky something special.

The nose has light fruits, apple & pear, vanilla, some leather. The palate is rich, fruity, heavily apple sauce, sweet, with some mild green tobacco leaf, and a bit of oak. It has a creamy texture. Overall I find the finish is very spicy, warm, and slighty sharp/tangy, with spice, cinnamon, and more cooked apple or pear. The finish is also very short. Water brings out massive pepper flavours and huge heat on the finish.

75% 1st fill bourbon barrels, 25% 2nd fill French wine casks. Toasted barley, butter sweet corn, charred oak, malt, apples, honey, cinnamon, charred grapes, melon, caramel, strawberry jam on a biscuit, chocolate, smoked tomatoes and oranges.