Old Malt Cask Brora 21 YO 1981

Many thanks for sharing this great review, @Victor! I, sadly, have never had the opportunity yet to sample Brora, but am I right in assuming that a maturation in ex-sherry casks was the exception with Brora rather than the rule? As for the overall review I feel tempted to say that so far I have not come across an Old Malt Cask bottling that would have disappointed me.

@Pierre-W, thanks for joining in and for your kind words. I am no authority on Brora, but to the best of my knowledge sherry cask expressions of it would have been less common than would the expressions strictly using bourbon wood.

The only other Brora I have sampled has been the 2009 30 year old. To date, I prefer this one to that one, but I have only sampled the 2009 once, and I still have a large sealed sample bottle of it from a friend to one day investigate with much more leisure.

That is useful information to me that you have had good experiences with the Old Malt Cask bottlings. Thank you.

@Victor, I am delighted to finally read your personal review! And I am very glad you enjoy the whisky. For me this is a whisky that can really divide people. It is one I keep coming back to and wondering if it is as good as I think it is. The simple truth is that it is a whisky I just want to drink. I agree that the balance on the taste and finish far out do the slightly disjointed nose. However, it is the nose that keeps me interested in what is going on. For me the nose never seems to resolve.

@Pierre_W My understanding (and guess) is that the wood used for Brora was mostly the dregs. It was always intended for blending in the Walker range. They also were only distilling Brora from 1969 until 1983 which was the height of the whisky glut. No one wanted the stuff, and almost no one cared about it. The few official releases of Brora almost always include a mixture of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Many of the independent bottles of Brora typically seem to be in ex-sherry casks/hogsheads/butts. However, very few are "sherry monsters" out there. I hear the heavily sherried stuff from the early 1970's is fantastic while the heavily sherried Brora's from 1980's typically have sulfur taint to them - again evidence that no one cared about the casks the liquid was going into.

I think that @Victor is correct about this being a 3rd fill sherry cask (not butt) because there were only 360 bottles were produced.

Fear not @Victor, one day I will open another bottle of this precious liquid and we will drink it together!

@Victor great review, again! It seems like a great one but I am a bit like Pierre_W, it doesn't sound like a Brora to me. Did you get any sea salt or exotic fruits? Brora is a Mythic Distillery that I dream about but didn't get the chance to explore yet. I hope the day will come when...

@Victor Great review, old friend.

I've managed to write about a couple of them and maybe drank another couple. Of the lot my favorite is the 2010 release of the 30 year old. Very crisp flavors. I had a 1981 Signatory which was quite unusual.

The only reason I want to drink as many of them is find out what the fuss is all about.

@Nock Wait for me to open up your next bottle please!