Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2008 Islay Grown: Dunlossit Estate

I get lots of spice off of this so not sure why they say it dosen't. It makes my mouth numb. I love it

Outside of Octomore, I’ve never had a Bruichladdich. Strange that after almost 300 whiskies not one has been part of the standard lineup of this Islay distillery. Well tonight I remedied that thanks to @LeeEvolved and his generosity. Bere Barley is all about locally grown Islay barley. Bottled at 50% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of pale straw. The nose is very malty and cereal forward. Lemon citrus, which I had noticed in so many single malts a few months ago and then suddenly it was gone, and now back again. Vanilla cream, ginger and nutmeg. Light oak, a distant coffee note and light toffee. Not much complexity to be found here. After adding a generous amount of water...nothing. Not much change at all except maybe a little creamier and perhaps some lime leaves. The palate is rather harsh with lots of heat that builds quickly. Malty, oak, lemon and a light apple note. Harsh overall. With water much of the heat still remains and nothing new comes forth. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is lightly oily and mouth coating with heat. The finish is medium length with heat, cereal malt and light oak. Well this was quite the boring dram. Nothing really going on, but that may have been done intentionally. I suspect that refill and third fill casks were used in an attempt to impart as little influence over the new make spirit as possible in order to showcase the special barley varietal. Unfortunately that resulted in a rather forgettable dram. At close to $90 it’s also quite pricy for what you get. So I’d recommend not bothering with this one if tempted to try something new. 2.75 Cheers

I added a bottle of this to an international order back in the spring and I decided to open it because I have too many peated whiskies open at the moment, so I need something to balance things out. Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2008 is another release lauding the use of locally grown six-row barley from the Dunlossit Farm on Northern Islay. These guys love to advertise “terroir”, and this one fits the bill. Bere Barley is 9 year old whisky that was aged in ex-white oak casks and bottled at 50% abv. It’s pale yellow, oily and makes some very skinny legs in the taster. It’s non-chill filtered and has no added color. The nose was pretty closed off initially. I mean I literally got nothing for the first 5-10 minutes. Vanilla and sweet corn eventually came through, albeit still quite lightly. The oak casks are probably the most prominent aroma, even if you add a splash of water- which I did on subsequent tastings. The palate only really carried the sweet, candied corn as it’s one note swan song. There was some alcohol and ABV presence, but the sweetness carried the day- even with water. It was slightly hot, harsh and to the point. The finish was medium to long, again focusing on the corn. The mouthfeel stayed dry from beginning to end. A little water did wash some of the harshness out, but it only diluted the dram even more. Overall, this was a boring dram. If you’re an American bourbon fan or a enthusiastic corn whiskey drinker then this may hit your wheelhouse. The question is: why would you buy an $88 single malt to experience Scottish moonshine? The simple answer is that you wouldn’t. This malt is only for diehard Bruichladdich fans. I like their core stuff, but this is one I should’ve left out of my online cart. 2.75-3 stars and not worth the scratch. Look elsewhere.

Tasty

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