Bruichladdich 10 year old bottled in 1979

Recently a friend of mine, his father-in-law and I had a tasting session. We actually went through 13 drams in one sitting. A long but very good night! The whiskies we went through in order were Bushmills Black Bush, Macphail's Collection Bunnahabhain 1990 (bottled in 2006), Bruichladdich 10 year old (bottled in 1979), Ardbeg Blasda, Port Ellen 25 year old (distilled 1980 bottled 2006), Bowmore 1956 (distilled in 1956, bottled in 1983), Glenfiddich 15 year old, Gordon and MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Ardbeg 13 year old (distilled in 1972), Ardbeg 10 year old, Ardbeg Lord of the Isles, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Gordon and MacPhail Caol Ila 16 year old (distilled in 1969) and the Ardbeg Supernove. Over the next few days I will be writing up my notes. I won't be re-reviewing those malts I've already reviewed, but there are plenty of new ones.

Third cap off the rank was the Bruichladdich, which (according to the packaging) in 1979 won a Double Gold award for the 'Best over 10 year old single malt.' Definitely not a modern bottle, the price-tag on the box said $32.10, which is about £16. Remembering that import taxes in Australia pretty much double the cost of imported alcohol, that would mean its sale price in the UK would have been £8! I imagine it has been a while since an award winning single malt sold for that much!

So I had high hopes then that this would be a big improvement after the disappointment of the Bunnahabhain.

The nose was full of pears, vanilla, gentle peat, hints of dry, clean smoke and cut grass. Fairly complex, and very light and refreshing. I found myself sniffing at this for a number of minutes before noticing that everyone else was mostly through their glasses before I had even started tasting it - a really intriguing nose!

The taste started with warm gentle peat followed by a nutty, creamy maltiness. Hints of grapefruit, honey and then gentle freshness of cut green grass. Not as complex as the nose, but still nicely balanced, and genuinely good to taste.

The finish was only of a medium length, and was warm and creamy, with undertones of pears and gentle peat smoke.

Drink number three, and finally a seriously decent dram that lived up to my expectations. I doubt it would win any awards today, but a seriously good whisky nonetheless. The taste and finish weren't quite up to the standard of the nose (which was brilliant), but for a 10 year old, this was a seriously good every-dayer.

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