Bruichladdich Laddie Scottish Barley

Scent: marzipan; pear crepes; whipped cream; musty muslin curtains at the beach; lovely barley.

Mouth: Turnips; brown sugar; crème brulee, cashews; middle of a cinnamon roll with dough that is still a bit raw; Chinese white pepper; sunrise over Paris in the fall.

finish: Goes on a while if you smack your lips and mouth a bit. Dies fairly quickly if you don't make an attempt to keep the flavors going by moving around your tongue.

Yes, it sounds weird, but I'm weird so I will say it: the flavors of this interesting whisky can be sustained beyond their natural "life" when the tissues of your mouth and tongue reignite them, "smacking" like fireflies darting up from the dewy night grass as you walk through a meadow in moonlight.

I recommend drinking this whisky with your lover and kissing a little after the first few sips just to see if you both can exchange the finish on the lips and tongue of another. I have yet to try that with my wife, but I shall. It is one of those curious things; not all whiskies have the ephemeral quality of this one that lives beyond its years, to so speak.

Despite my tasting notes, the Scottish barley is deceptively simple. I had to really struggle to pull out the individual nuances. You could either say it is very unified, or a bit wet behind the ears.

And, yes, let's address No Age Statement releases. I understand the reason why Bruichladdich is making younger whiskies. Demand is up and a profit can be turned from shipping out more and more younger bottles. Still, selling NAS whiskies is lame.

Do I miss the Laddie Ten? Yes, indeed. I do. This said, the new Scottish Barley is nice, even if it falls short of the Laddie Ten's bold character and strange ephemeral qualities. Some people associated it with baby puke. Not me. I just don't get that. Rather, I got a nice balance of sweet with sour. Not bitter. Sour.

The Scottish barley is not sour. It is fairly sweet and a little bitter. I miss the sweet & sour of the Laddie Ten.

Now, let's discuss price. On Master of Malt, the price is not bad at all at $65. At Binny's Chicago, the price is even better at $55. This whisky has yet to hit Portland. The Islay Barley is here and I don't care for it nearly as much.

I tasted the Scottish barley side by side last summer with the Islay barley at a whisky fest. Today, I'm sipping a dram thanks to a friend that brought back a bottle with her from Scotland and gave me a sample. She just loves this whisky and who could blame her? Sometimes young and fairly simple is the cat's meow.

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