Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 50%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-bourbon first fill, ex-Port and ex-Wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Bruichladdich (Rèmy Cointreau)
Average price: € 170.00
Official website: www.bruichladdich.com
Added to the core range in early 2024 after several appearances in the past, the new 18-year-old from the Islay distillery, christened Re/Define, is the result of Bruichladdich’s policy of traceability and attention to raw materials, using the first barley grown in their fields combined with other (organic) barley from the “mainland”, distilled in 2004 and peat-free.
Maturation took place on Islay, mainly in ex-bourbon casks combined with a small proportion of ex-Sauternes and ex-port casks for nine months before bottling.
The packaging is unusual, with 60% recycled glass and a cover made from 100% recycled paper pulp.
Tasting Notes
On the nose, bourbon firmly guides the aromas, bringing to the fore white and tropical fruits (peach, apple, pineapple, grapefruit, white melon), marzipan, toffee, candied orange and coconut. There are also spicy notes (white pepper, ginger) accompanied by sugar paste, acacia honey, peeled almonds and a hint of minerality with slightly marine connotations. Background notes of macerated paper and blueberry juice. Captivating.
On the palate, it is rather dry and spicy, with pepper, ginger and aniseed punctuating a fairly oily and sweet attack (custard, fruit, honey) that soon turns to more bitter notes, in which the wine seems to take over. Lemon and lime give way to hints of unripe fruit (apple, above all) with injections of currant and gooseberry, almonds and wood. Liquorice root, bitter cocoa and tannic dryness. A mineral vein is ever-present, with salty accents.
The finish is dry and salty, with candied fruit, black pepper, honey, trifle, almonds and liquorice.
Review: I would have much preferred maturation entirely in ex-bourbon casks, as the contribution of the wine casks causes disruption, making a darm that could have been much more elegant and rounded seem sharp.
Vote: 83/100