Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie

Bold flavor! Medium brine with smokey, nutty vanilla heavy hits to the palate.

Lands sweet and then starts to explore the full vanilla terrain

Notes of cherry on the nose.

This one is really interesting! It's an unpeated Islay--tiny bit of smoke, very floral and spicy, with a lingering salty tartness. Makes me want to try some of their other expressions.

The island of Islay continues to amaze me with its diverse offerings, and The Classic Laddie is one of its best. One of the really cool things that Bruichladdich does, is give you access to the exact recipe used for your batch of scotch. My batch (19/039) contained 12 different types of casks aged between eight and eleven years. Every cask contained Scottish barley and was on its first or second fill. If you're wondering why the bottle is turquoise, apparently it was colored after the sea near the distillery on sunny days. The sea has more impact on this whisky than just the bottle though, as you can pick up hints of sea water on the nose. You will have to search for them though, as the nose is heavy and complex with many aromas. After the initial ethanol vapors, you can find sugar cookies, sweet fruits, flowers, spearmint, gingerbread, cream, and butter. You can really sit and enjoy the nose on this whisky for several minutes and continue to find more flavors. The palate is very sweet but the 50% ABV whisky started to slightly numb my tongue. After adding some water, I started to get more flavors like sweet corn, honey, and sweet oak. The finish is long and complex. It starts with a bitter note of dark chocolate but becomes lighter with some honey and pepper. After lingering for a bit, some floral and toffee flavors begin to reveal themselves. Wow, this scotch is really quite an experience. I really admire the distillery's transparency about what is in their bottle and wish more companies would follow their lead. Considering that, along with the rich complex flavors, high alcohol content, and affordable price, this scotch is an easy five stars from me.