Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2012

Straw coloring. Floral sweet notes on the nose. Taste is full and bold. Lots of lemon, honey, melon, fresh grasses, and orange. No peat at all. Slight bitterness on the finish from the oak barrel.

Strong honey. Smokey and finish of iodine. A nice Islay

Open 9 months Nose - Lemon peel, brine, ginger, white pepper, fresh grass, very light oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Lemon custard, salted caramel, iodine, white pepper, gingerbread, light butterscotch, and light herbal mix. Finish is medium with bitter lemon oil, dried ginger, peppercorn medley, salt, musty malt, old grass, and light ethanol. This is a fine, coastal malt, but I've had better. The old version of Old Pulteney 12 easily tops this, and for a little more money Oban 14 is a better buy. Other cheaper Highland malts with a touch of brine would be good comparisons. I actually think light peat would improve this. I know the point of this expression is showcasing unpeated Islay malt, but if you can stand a little peat, Talisker 10 is a better version of this in every facet.

My first of the Islay Barley series — and an impressive start. The color is a gold with unmatched clarity and brightness. I smell uniqueness: echinacea, brine, sphagnum moss, and dried pineapple. The palate is explosively multifaceted. The dried pineapple of the nose flares gooey pineapple upside down cake on the tongue. I taste wild blueberries, salt of sunflower seeds, wild yeast, and nori, too. My favorite aspect of this scotch is the finish. At 100 proof, it never stops expanding, like a little universe in your mouth that grows perpetually after the first star fuses into existence. With notes of inchoate peat, it spreads in an unending, estery wave, making sense of why this is called a spirit. The aftertaste that remains is a smoky vanilla grounded by sweet malt. The most interesting scotch I’ve had a bottle of in a long time, Bruichladdich never ceases to amaze.