Bruichladdich have a history of doing things a little differently, this applies to everything they do including their choice of casks. Their previous owner Mark Reynier had a wine background before rescuing the sleeping distillery and this led to the maturation of their spirit in some interesting wine casks, both the drams I'm trying here were distilled in 2007 and matured in Rivesaltes casks.
Let see how they compare side by side!
During the late Spring / early Summer of 2007 Bruichladdich distilled some Optic barley and filled some of it into Muscat de Rivesaltes French Wine Casks to mature. Eventually cask 1308 was bottled as Laddie Crew Valinch 32 - Lynne McEwan (Senior Brand manager and daughter of the famous Jim McEwan), cask 1309 was bottled for Laddie Crew Germany, cask 1310 for Laddie Crew UK and another went to a small independent bottler The Fisherman's Retreat. It's the last two which I am trying today.
Rivesaltes (pronounced Riv-Zalt) is a town in Southern France near the Pyrenees and border with Spain, it gives its name to a sweet fortified wine which, dependent on the grapes used, can be red or white. In this case red wine casks were used to mature the whisky for between 11 and 12 years.
| Dram | Distillery Bottling | Independent Bottling |
|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 62.8% ABV D: Jun '07, B: Oct '18, 11yo Cask 1310, 246 bottles Laddie Crew UK Micro-Provenance Series | 50.4% ABV D: May '07, B: Sep '19, 12yo 249 bottles Fisherman's Retreat Edition No. 6 |
| Distillery info | Matured for 11 years in a single Rivesaltes wine cask, this is part of the Distillery Micro-Provenance Series. The Micro-Provenance series is unique to Bruichladdich and is conceived as a series of individual cask bottlings, individually selected by master distiller Jim McEwan, it's an ongoing exploratory series of single casks, specifically selected to examine the evolutionary influences on maturing Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky - the variables of age, wood, barley, storage location, humidity, heat and marine climate - the very essence of provenance. | At 50.4% the addition of a little spring water allows the spirit to reveal some beautiful aromas. Initially, you are welcomed by the fruitiness of pomegranate & plump ripe grapes with floral hints of honeysuckle & gorse in bloom, followed by an updraft of heather and moorland flowers with coastal drift of Atlantic breezes. Jim McEwan Colour: Stunning Medium Amber/ Burnished copper. Body: Medium with a fresh vibrant Hebridean overture clearly highlighting the quality of the cask & the spirit.. |
| My thoughts: | ||
| Appearance |  | |
| Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling to the glass as a thin line, taking time to bead up and fall as slow thin legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls again cling as a thin line, taking time to bead up and eventually falling as slow thin legs. | |
| Nose | Very strong sherry bomb notes - dunnage warehouse, old leather, strawberry jam - drying even on the nose! Hints of treacle toffee, berries and instant coffee. | Again typical sherry bomb notes - dunnage warehouse, old leather, strawberry jam and maybe a hint of smoke? There's a hint of red fruit to come. |
| Palate | Thick syrupy arrival, the ABV hits the back of the throat and your mouth is instantly dry. A few more sips reveal more of the treacle toffee, dark fruit and berries together with a sour citrus note. This needs some water! A couple of drops reveal brown sugar, nutty bitter dark chocolate and a more of the instant coffee from the nose - to be honest it just isn't pleasant. A little more water just increases the bitterness. | Again a thick syrupy - very sweet - very drying. Lots of sweet dark fruit notes - dates, figs, black cherries, sultanas, raisins etc - typical sherry bomb stuff. Some nutty dark chocolate leaving a dryness in the mouth. It's not as bitter and there is no coffee. I don't think this needs any water. A few more sips reveal a ginger spice and some smoke, a little sour drying citrus - Nice! |
| Finish | Short bitter coffee and a hint of spice. | Long drying dark chocolate notes with a bite of ginger spice. |
| Overall | Wow - two drams that I thought might be similar but were actually very different. The Distillery bottling is just too strong and even with a big glug of water keeps a bitter note that just isn't nice. The Independent bottling with a lower ABV is much nicer. So they both came from similar casks and has similar maturation periods, they were both aged for a similar amount of time and generated a similar number of bottles but something changed - a much lower ABV in one that another. | |
Many thanks to @DomsWhisky for the Laddie sample and @FishRetreat for their sample.
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