Bruichladdich 9 Year Old SMWS 23.71

I must admit that I frowned and even laughed out loud when I first read the label on this bottle. A cheese board in surgery? WTF? My, my, the boys and girls of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society sure are inventive when thinking of a unique description of what they bottle. This is a young Laddie at cask strength which was released two years ago. It was, just like the last one I tried, distilled in November 2001. This one matured on a refill bourbon barrel.

When I nose it for the first time it is incredibly soft. Let me check that ABV on the label again. Really? Hmm. It is an archetypal Laddie, that is fors ure. Wonderfully fruity overtones (citrus, apples), but the cheese board is indeed there. Ricotta, the fresh and soft Italian cheese made of sheep milk! Well, well. A little bit of peat too (not a lot, though) and very medicinal. Disinfectant. So maybe the label looks a bit ludicrous at first, but it is bulls eye. After a few minutes, some lovely whiffs of coconut, vanilla and light brown sugar emerge.

On the palate: ouch! Ka-boom! A smack in the face. Very spicy (black and red peppers, paprika and ginger) and scorching. But still, I am not adding any water, for this is just wonderful. A little bit of salt, balanced by sweet notes of brown sugar, coconut again and even some apricots.

The finish is obviously long and bittersweet with a truckload of salt at the death.

A somewhat weird Laddie, but what fun! I can truly appreciate this. Around 80 EUR. Thanks to Sjoerd for the sample.

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