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Bruichladdich 18 Year Old 1st Edition

Carnage

0 784

@talexanderReview by @talexander

23rd Feb 2012

0

Bruichladdich 18 Year Old 1st Edition
  • Nose
    21
  • Taste
    20
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    22
  • Overall
    84

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

In advance of my Quaich dinner tomorrow night (with Jim McEwan introducing some Bruichladdich expressions), I'm reviewing the 18 Year Old that I brought to the tasting that @victor and @dramlette arranged. At the time, I mistakenly thought this was the 2nd Edition but it is in fact the 1st Edition (I blame the booze) - so if you were there and you are reading this - I stand corrected! This 1st Edition was finished in German sweet wine casks, and is non-peated.

Colour is a shimmery copper, very nice. First thing on the nose is a sweet Gewurztraminer, with a heavy malt behind it. Rubbery, oaky and quite sweet. The palate is strong - a fruity blast of berries, brown sugar, oak and white wine, and rather syrupy in the mouthfeel. The finish is lovely, drying and very long, with toasty wood notes. Dominant flavours are fruit and oak, and they balance together here quite nicely.

A little water tames the sugar and brings out more malt and not-too-sweet fruit notes, like apple crisp - referring also the vanilla, berries and caramel.

Perhaps slightly sweet for my taste, and a wee bit too oaky - but I can appreciate this, especially with water, and enjoy it.

One more thing: I bought this because it is the bottle of Scotch featured in Roman Polanski's film Carnage, which I distributed in Canada. I was hoping to open the bottle at our office to celebrate its reaching $1 million in box office in Canada, but alas it underperformed - hence I'm drinking it now. If you've seen the film, you'll smile at my "apple crisp" reference above!

If I am lucky enough to purchase any Bruichladdichs tomorrow night - I will let you know!

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7 comments

@thecyclingyogi
thecyclingyogi commented

great review... i really enjoyed this one that night, thanks for sharing. have a blast tomorrow, buddy. i really gotta become a champion....

12 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Thanks for a nice review. Loving the movie title review title...could be a hard precedent to follow.

12 years ago 0

@maltster
maltster commented

@talexander, great review! I like the 1st Edition very much and I rated it very similar with 85. Refering to your correction this first edition was finished in Willy Opitz Trockenbeerenauslese Casks and he is in Austria (where I currently live) and not in Germany. Your plan for tonight sounds terrific - enjoy.

12 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

Thank you @maltster - I got the erroneous information from a pretty reputable (but otherwise excellent) whisky book, but I looked it up online later and realized (but didn't bother correcting!)

12 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

Dinner tonight was a lot of fun. I bought a bottle of 15 YO 2nd Edition (which Mr. McEwan signed) and won a gift basket of the Organic with 2 whisky glasses! The drams we had were the Classic, Organic, 15 YO 2nd Edition, 16 YO Bourbon Cask and Port Charlotte. The food at the Oakville Club is excellent as well. My only quibble was that all of the malts we had are readily available at the LCBO (and there wasn't any discount offered at the dinner) - I had been expecting some bottles that were not otherwise available here, as is the usual case with the Quaich dinners.

12 years ago 0

@thecyclingyogi
thecyclingyogi commented

haha, i'm such a tool.... companion, not champion. they'll never let me join now...

12 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

I like "Champion" better!

12 years ago 0