Bruichladdich 18 Year Re/Define

A couple years back, the folks at Bruiccladdich it was time to make the Classic Laddie an older brother. That’s usually not how that works, but alas, here we are with what Bruiccladdich dubs their flagship bottling—an unpeated 18 year old. I recently reviewed the Classic Laddie, which I thought was excellent. I’m looking forward to this one. Nose: Vanilla, toffee, and custard. Macadamia. Honey and sugar cookie. Dried apricot. Lemon citrus. Crisp Macintosh apple. Honeydew. Menthol. Ginger. Oak. Palate: Heavy on the dried apricot. Some peppermint as well. Caramel, vanilla, and toffee. Almond and macadamia. A hoppy, IPA note. Sugar cookie. Pineapple. Chocolate biscotti. Gala apple, raisin, and plum. Finish: Toffee, vanilla, and caramel. Pineapple. Plum and raisin. More of the peppermint. Some rosemary sneaks in right before the rest of the spice kicks in. White pepper, cinnamon, and oak. Long finish. This quite effective as a refined older sibling to the Classic Laddie. It’s fruit forward in a way that is distinctly unpeated Islay. It reminds me of a lot of the Caol Ila special releases to be specific, only with the heat turned way down. There are some citrus and tropical notes that help to set this apart though. It adds a nice touch. The nose is good. The palate and finish are great. The straight jacket they fitted this bottle in is an odd choice, but otherwise this is a great addition to the core range. $170 is steep no matter how you slice it, but the 18 year age statement and the 50% ABV are very respectable. Is it worth the price tag? I’ll say yes—barely. 4.5/5. Well done Bruiccladdich.

Body in the glass hints to the age - left to rest there are very fine pearls climbing ever so slightly up the side of the glass, and a good swirl leaves thick, ropey tendrils that last for minutes. Looks good, now how does it smell? The nose is deceiving. I'm usually pretty good about picking a Bruichladdich out of the crowd, but this could be any number of nice malts, to include its Irish cousins just across the straight. I get hay, honeysuckle, and the inside of an empty box of Milk Duds. Return trips don't yield much more, and the anticipated lemon oil is conspicuous by its absence. Palate is warm and rich, with the honey from the nose briefly taking point before being overrun by a small army of semi-sweet fruit. Pear, white grapes, and dragon fruit abound, driving the middle to the close where minor barrel spice and a slight brininess pops in to tame the almost-sweet and righting the ship for the next wave of incoming. And it is here I finally find a Bruichladdich trait - that marvelous balance. Overall a nice, comfortable, unassuming drink that can be enjoyed by most anyone who likes whisky. Two minor issues, and one less minor issue bear further discussion. First, the two nits to pick; 1) The honey on the nose and on the palate open is the best part of this, and in both, it doesn't last very long. 2) For an 18, there is a surprising amount of heat. I know it's 50% ABV, but in my experience the alcohol heat is usually tamed around 12-14 years, and this has had far longer. One big bone of contention: This is a fine dram, but that can be said about a lot of Scotch, across a wide variety of age and cost. And I think that's ultimately where this falls down a little - there's nothing to differentiate this from the pack of 'good' Scotch, and there's no clear link to the distillery where you can see the progression up the range. This could just as easily be Arran or Dalwhinnie or Cardhu. And if I was a distillery manager, pleasing taste be damned, I would be worried about losing that connection, especially in a core-range product.