Bruichladdich 1990/27 HB '90

Another wonderful old Bruichladdich with loads of berries, honey, raisins, chocolate, and nuts with hints of the classic bruichladdich funky blue cheese, Brie, and briney notes. Nose: Raisins, Dark Chocolate, Honey, Strawberries, Blueberries, Plums, Figs, Blood Oranges, Raspberries, Watermelons Palate: Blueberries, Raisins, Honey, Cranberries, Milk Chocolate, Walnuts, Hazlenuts, Brie, Salted Caramel, Brine Finish: Honey, Strawberries, Cranberries, Roses, Prunes, Almonds, Coconuts, Blue Cheese, Brine

Caramel, coffee, smoke, vanilla. Beautiful and complex.

On my long airplane trip to Scotland, there was a stop at Amsterdam's Airport, which is famous for its whisky shops. There, i found one that sells single malt samples, some fancy ones. I picked a rarity, that i have seen in auctions but was one of those whiskies i was never going to buy: a 27yo Bruichladdich HB 90. It says it was matured for 17 years in American Oak casks from ex-Bourbon and Tennesee whiskies followed by 10 years in casks from one of Bordeaux’s legendary Chateau. Matured for all of its life on the isle of Islay. Bottled at 49.5%abv, lovely reddish color. Only 12.000 bottles were ever released, from the "Rare Cask Series". On the nose, it is very interesting. Glazed pork, cloth softener. Very spicy on the nose. Greasy and spicy; Dr. pepper cola. After having a couple of sips, i got an aroma of cotton candy and sweet popcorn. The palate is very good. Cherry syrup, black pepper, red fruits. More sips really cleared a lots of sweet syrup and fruitiness. Very easy drinkable. Toffee. The spiciness hits after 3 seconds but it is manageable; the third sip was all about sweet popcorn! Amazing! Aftertaste is acid. Prunes, acid fruits; feels like old sherry. You get this feeling of sour like whiskies like some bourbons. Not bad, just odd. Overall, this was an interesting dram with some changing emotions on each sip. Even if it has some crazy good notes, it lacks a little soul. Aftertaste was nice, but it was the least good part of it. My score for it is 88 over 100.

Nose - (w/o water) Juicy red berries, hint of tannic fruity dryness, charcoal filtered apple juice (w/ water) Removes tannic dryness, light saline, red berries Taste - (w/o water) Rich dark apple juice backbone, light clean charcoal/coal smoke, salt smoked cherries, saline, dry tannic red berries, hint of dried apple rings (w/ water) Any trace of smoke is gone, more cherries, saline, red berries, dark apple juice, less tannic Finish - (w/o water) Lingering light smoke/charcoal, red berries, dried apple rings, light goji berry medicinal berry sweetness (w/ water) Any hint of smoke/charcoal/medicinal vibe is gone, goji berries, cherries, apple Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - This one is quite good and I'm a bit mixed as to whether or not this is better with or without water. Without water there's this odd smoky component like they took a few grains of smoked salt & dropped them into the bottle, which makes it quite interesting, but also adds this mineral aspect that's a bit distracting at the same time. I'm a huge fan of the nose but for some reason the palate just doesn't live up to the intensity of the nose. Finish is more interesting without water, but at the same time it has this weirdly medicinal/metallic vibe that goes away with some water. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Not at current prices NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.