Brora

I have yet to taste Brora. I believe the golden years for Brora distillate were the 1970's, early 70's in particular but all the way up to the end of the 70's.

So.. potentially anything bottled 1990's and before early 2000's might be a good bet.

Having said that, the OB 25, 30, 32, 35yo etc from releases in recent years are highly regarded also.

Best place for Brora info and tasting notes is Whisky Fun (Serge is widely known for his penchant for Brora):

www.whiskyfun.com/Brora-Index.html

I would not hesitate to order a dram at that price!

I tried the 7th, the 9th and the 11th release and liked the 9th release the most . It were very good whiskies but not the best I know. But you can not go wrong if you taste it. Maybe the 24 Y.O. is the Rare Malt and therefore it would be something very special (I always want to taste an OB first to see how the producers intended their whisky to be).

I've had some Broras, not (by a long shot) as many as some. Clynelish can be fairly similar to it, especially the less peaty Broras. If you really like Clynelish, and wanted to taste it amped up a bit, then the Brora might be a worthwhile expense. It's certainly not inexpensive.

In addition to the excellent suggestion about Serge's Whiskyfun, you may want to check whiskybase (whiskybase.com/distillery.php/ ) and the Malt Maniacs Monitor (whisky-monitor.com/index.jsp/…)

I really like Brora. My all-time favorite whiskies come from other distilleries, but I think that Brora consistently produced excellent whiskies. Good luck!

Has anyone ever compared a Brora and a Clynelish of similar vintages, ages, peat levels, and cask types?

Great question, Russ! Glad you asked! I was going to incorporate a similar sub-question about Clynelish into my original post about Brora, but that would have made it kind of long. People seem to prefer short bits on the discussion board.

Clynelish and Brora, although on opposite sides of the road, were operated to make different types of whisky. Clynelish was never peated to the same level. Sure, the least peaty Brora comes close to Clynelish, but a direct comparison which rules out other elements is impossible.

@rigmorole: can't you just ask to see the bottle before ordering a dram?

THE Brora 24 without further specification would be the 1977 Rare Malts edition, I guess. The Rare Malts and the 30-32-35 year-olds are the only official bottlings.

@rigmarole. The Rare Malts Brora 24 gets 92 points from Serge on WF. The 3 independent bottlingsof the 24 he has tasted scored 86-88points. I agree with @WhiskyNotes, ask to see the bottle before you pop the 38 bucks.

Best Brora I've tried: www.allthingswhisky.com

Okay, so I found out more about the bottle that I would like to try: 24 years old in oak casks, connoisseurs choice, bottled in 2006, Gordon & MacPhail.

Any good? Usually a 2006 bottling is 30 years old. Not this one. Anyone ever try this one?

The Whiskybase website (shop.whiskybase.com/articlelist/5/samples) had samples-sized bottles of the latest Diageo $$$$$ annual releases last fall. These samples went pretty quickly (I guess they probably only opened one bottle of each), but for a total of about 30 Euros we were able to taste the latest OB Port Ellen, Lagavulin 21, and Brora.

The Lagavulin was unremarkable IMO (too much sherry influence), the Port Ellen was a bit astringent (glad I did not buy a full bottle), but the Brora was out of this world; really really really good: waxy, rich, oily, sweet/tart. The Brora I could have bought a bottle of (assuming that I was not married ;-)

I had a 750ml distillery bottling of Brora 30 (I'll check the year if you wish as I kept the bottle and packaging) which I opened for my 50th birthday two years ago. It was gone in about two blissful months. To this day it's the finest drink of any kind I've ever had. I bought three bottles form a Swiss dealer I'd found online. Total for shipping and the bottles in 2008 was US$900. Quite a bargain compared against today's prices. A friend bought one full bottle and we split the second bottle, carefully pouring it into two smaller bottles to take home. I love the stuff.

After finishing the Brora I wanted more without all the expense so I tried Clynelish 14 (db). There are lots of common elements, IMO. Certainly close cousins. To this day I'll buy Clynelish. I like to call it "the poor man's Brora" but it is certainly stands on it's own.

Rigmorole. Just do it! As just last week, I had the chance to try a $45 dram of macallan 25 while in a hotel, but didnt pull the trigger and have regretted it ever since! I also happen to be looking into getting a special occasion bottle of brora and/or port ellen. Must say is a rather confusing and frustrating quest nowadays. Let alone choosing between OB and IB.

My bottle info and pics (I got the cork form the second bottle, hence the second cork). Our three bottles were sequentially numbered:

Brora 30 Bottles in 2005 Bottle number 000219 Limited bottling - 3000 bottles only 56.3% ABV 70cl

imgur.com/61du9mg.jpg imgur.com/HcLAKbo.jpg