Bruichladdich - Classic Laddie - 50%
Picture taken at Roche Bobois Stuttgart
This iconic turquoise/blue bottling is more or less the entry level of Bruichladdich, and really a statement with it's 50% abv. Were there any other regular entry level bottlings with such a high abv in the recent past? We cannot recall so far. The guys from Laddie usually don't dissapoint, so they surely won't be worried if we breakdown their figurehead.
Nose
Fresh baked sour bread, soaked in salty sea water! So fresh and clean at the first layer. A freshly painted wall with ink and fresh cut wooden panels. The second layer reveals dried grapefruit zests and used vanilla pods, while the whole work is interwoven with a gentle saltiness. After some time in the glass we even find some smoke in it. What a beautiful nose!
With water:
Saltiness down and hello sweetness. Getting much more delicate now, with vanilla cream and caramell (also known as the miracles of bourbon casks).
Palate
Dry, salty and slightly bitter entrance! The barley notes are really pronounced here, which is very much to our liking. Even if the texture is thick and oily, the whole body is light and fresh.
With water: Intense sweetness of liquorice now, with vanilla and grapefruit extract. The Water really got a fascinating development going.
Finish
Long and slightly ashy. Even if we know that it's non peated, we still find some smoke in it, especially in the finish.
Rating
Excuse us, but if this is entry level stuff, we are tempted to question the whole ongoing NAS and "whisky quality going down" discussion. This is brillant stuff one can get at a low cost. This babe for sure plays in the same league as a Talisker 10, Ardbeg 10, Lagavulin 16 and other benchmark single malts.
