Part one of the Wee Laddie tasting set review. I bought the 3 bottle tasting set from Bruichladdich (which contains 200ml bottles of The Classic Laddie, Islay Barley, and Port Charlotte Scottish Barley) almost 3 years ago and figured it was time to dust it off and give it a proper shakedown. First up is The Classic Laddie. This Islay single malt is bottled at 50% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of yellow gold. It is also unpeated, a bit of an oddity for Islay, but everything under the Bruichladdich label is just that. The nose has very strong cereal notes, the barley is definitely the star here. Barley sugar and honey with a nice lemon/lime note. Floral at times with jasmine and honeysuckle, creamy vanilla and sugar cookies. Fruity, but not very sweet. Apricots, peaches, papaya, pears, oranges and very light sherry. Salty sea air, buttery almonds, oak and sawdust. There is a bit of burnt sugar and even a quick hit of coffee grounds. It’s definitely a young whisky with a youthful greenness and some vegetal notes. A mineral/chalky note at times, and even though it is unpeated, it has definite peat-like qualities to it. Hardly any alcohol to it even though it’s at 50%. The palate has plenty of honey, cereal malt and spice. Fruity, apricots, peaches, pears and orange pith. Vanilla, sugar cookies and salty sea spray. Charred oak, peppery and very young tasting. Again, those unpeated peat notes come in and serve to confuse but also elevate this malt a bit. Not a complex palate, but the quality is evident. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is very creamy and mouthwatering. The finish is medium long, malty, grainy, vanilla, oak and dry. Some nice complexity on the nose, but still could be improved with additional maturation or possibly a finish in some first fill bourbon barrels. The palate leaves much to be desired in the complexity department, however. I’m still amazed thought that this is unpeated. I would have figured at least 2-5ppm. Not sure what it was that I was getting if not peat. Easy drinking considering the strength, but not one that I would likely return to as it’s just not my preferred style. 3.75 Cheers Don’t forget to check out Dapper Drams on YouTube for all of my fabulous video reviews!