Port Charlotte Islay Barley

It's time for a wonderful whisky tasting flight from the fine lads at Bruichladdich, on the island of Islay. I'm enjoying the Wee Laddie Tasting Collection from these guys, which contains 3 200ml (8oz) samples of their core offerings: Classic Laddie, Islay Barley, and Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated. To run the entire gamut I've also opened a bottle of Octomore 7.1, in a valiant effort to go from unpeated all the way to the most heavily peated whisky in the world. Okay, let's continue on to taster #2... Islay Barley is another unpeated single malt that was distilled using only barley that was sourced from different farms around the island. It's non-chill filtered, no color added and comes in at a familiar 100 proof. It's a deeper, golden yellow in the glass and makes a lot of skinny legs in the Glencairn tasting glass when you twirl it a bit. The nose is eerily similar to American bourbon: there's vanilla, oak and corn sugar that floods the senses right away. I'm not getting much else. The first sip is vanilla, toffee and a faint floral dryness. The oily feel of the Classic Laddie isn't present here. This tastes like a quality, American bourbon without all the alcohol kick. This finish is spicy and quick. There's not even much lingering heat. Overall, it's a bit boring and one dimensional for a scotch. It seems fairly young as well and doesn't leave much of a lasting impression. I'd say it's in between 3 and 3.5 stars. Cheers.

Terrific little scotch. 7/10