Bruichladdich 18 (2nd edition)

Thanks to /u/cake_my_day for this sample

Seems a little silly having Bruichladdich 18 (2nd edition) prior to having the 1st edition, however my love of completing things in video games is a lot harder in real life when Bruichladdich is concerned.

I mean, I gave up with the damn feathers in Assassin’s Creed 2, and they are a cake walk compared to finding more and more of the Bruichladdich releases.

So we have Bruichladdich 18 (2nd edition). The idea behind this sub-category among the legion of releases is it was aged in ex-Bourbon casks, and then finished in French oak. But not just any French oak. French oak that was previously used for Jurancon sweet wine from the south-west of France. The wine itself is what’s on parade here.

The wine is made from Petit Manseng grape and have Noble Rot in them. Don’t get that too often.

So we have an older Bruichladdich that was moved over to a rare wine cask. It’s the norm for Bruichladdich now, however we should note that they jumped to lots of different casks each time.

So let’s see what this wine cask did, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Islay

Abv: 46%

Colour: 2.5Y 7/8

Nose: Floral, caramel, peach, basil, rock candy, orange, heather

Floral to start, with sweet notes. Lots of different sweet elements going on here, going so far to smell like rock candy. Or what I remember the smell of rock candy at least. I guess that should just say “hard candy”. It’s sweet smelling yet there’s moments where that sweetness detaches from the fruit.

The floral aspect opens into more heather as time goes on, which is quite nice.

Taste: Butter, duck a l’orange, caramel, cereal, wood, honeydew melon

Orange and meat flavours are hard to separate here. That’s the main aspect that I enjoy. Lots of fruit notes as well, however I keep coming back to that note, as it’s the most interesting side to it.

Actually as I drink it more and more, I really do want the other notes to step up.

Finish: Orangescicle, floral chocolate, Smarties (the Canadian ones), brine, caramel, sand

Orange, floral chocolate, repeat a joke, penis joke, etc.

It’s sweet. There’s quite a bit of floral and orange here. Some cream adds a new dimension, which is for the best. Goes quite dry at the end of it all. Almost too much, because it’s not balanced as time goes on.

Conclusion: A really, really odd dram. On the one hand, it has a vein of orange and floral going all the way through. It’s great, because it’s nice to have a dram that has consistency. On the other, a lot of the flavours aren’t that complex.

On the other hand, it has these random flavours that are really complex. Yet rather than helping, they take the centre stage, or remind you that the other notes aren’t amazing.

So you have this odd whisky that has moments of low and high complexity. Odd notes from a wine that we don’t normally get. Nothing rough, though nothing crazy.

I think if you really like orange, then this is a no brainer. Otherwise it’s a try before you buy.

81/100

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