TASTING NOTES REVIEW – Bruichladdich Scottish Barley – The Classic Laddie [Batch #24/011]

Bruichladdich’s The Classic Laddie – Scottish Barley is produced at the distillery located in the Rinns of the island of Islay. Islay is part of the Inner Hebrides archipelago off of Scotland’s western coastline. Unlike the bulk of Bruichladdich’s releases, The Classic Laddie is unpeated. Bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) with no added coloring and non-chill filtered, it is made from 100% organic Scottish barley grown in Inverness-shire grown near the distillery’s malting partners, Bairds. The barley is grown on single farms that change depending on the time of the year. The final product is a blend from “up to” 76 different casks “comprising” four vintages and seven different cask types. The scotch is then brought to bottling proof using three different water sources, all located within two miles of Bruichladdich – An Toran, the distillery’s own reservoir, and natural spring water. The finished spirit is a light yellow color, resembling a lightly colored apple juice or cider.

It is possible to find out more details on one’s specific bottle by entering the batch code on the bottle on the distillery’s website. My bottle is from Batch 24/011. My batch was aged in mostly first and second fill casks including those formerly used for bourbon and a variety of Spanish and French wine casks including from/for Ribero del Duero (Tempranillo), Bourdeaux Pauillac (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, & Merlot), and Rhone (Syrah and Grenache). The ex-bourbon barrels used are sourced from Jack Daniel’s, Heaven Hill, and Jim Beam. Other batches use other types of ex-wine casks including those for Madeira, Rivesaltes, Sauternes, different sherries, and Mourvèdre.

The Classic Laddie is my first Islay region scotch, albeit an unpeated one because, frankly, the little I’ve had of Islay scotches so far that are peated just aren’t for me. I didn’t enjoy their aroma or flavor profiles. Unfortunately, I tried those samples before I was very meticulous about taking tasting notes and so all I remember is that one was a Laphraoig. This tasting notes review is based on over four separate tasting sessions spaced out over time beginning on 3 November and running until today, 21 December, during which I took detailed notes. I also had several pours in between these sessions during which I did not take notes. I used a Glencairn glass for all tasting sessions.

For the first (bottle crack) pour, I let the scotch rest and aerate in the glass for over one-and-a-half hours. I tasted it neat with no water. The scotch had and continues to have a medium viscosity with legs/tears that are not fast but are also not super slow-running either.

On the nose, the aroma profile was defined by sweet orchard fruits including some citrus that reminded me of a mix of fresh, crisp, and juicy apples and sweet-tart apple cider. In some ways, it reminds me of the Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction Double Cask Reserve. There was a mix of citrusy mint and some alcohol that tingled the nose, sweet malt and grain notes, a salinity, caramel, slight green vegetal notes, and hints of honeyed fruitiness with citrus. There was a definite “bready-ness” leaving no mistake that The Classic Laddie is a malt whisky. After swirling in the glass, I noticed that the aroma profile saw a shift in the brighter fruity/sweet notes in favor of the salinity, malt, and oak. The aroma profile was and continues to be a pleasing and eclectic mix of sweetness, fruit (orchard and citrus), oak, malt, herbal/vegetal notes and a body and taste profile that is sweet, savory, salty, and creamy with gentle but also, at times, sharp aromas.

On the palate on the bottle crack pour, sips were and continue to be fruit-forward with a floral sweetness and citrus (the scotch is less sweet than the nose suggests) followed by notes of oak and a bit of nuttiness with a light oak tannin bitterness, malt/bready-ness, black pepper and an alcohol heat on the swallow, vanilla extract, dark caramelized sugar notes with a drizzle of honey, and a salinity that reminds me of breathing in sea mist/air while walking on a winter beach.

Even though The Classic Laddie is unpeated, the malt notes still continue to come across to me as a kind of smokiness (not like a campfire, but the vestiges of eating smoked meats). I was expecting a hotter and longer-lasting finish at 100 proof. Though a sip leaves a slight warmth on the back palate, throat, and upper chest, it is much less “hot” than some 80-100 proof tequilas that I’ve had. The finish was long at about ten seconds, though on subsequent pours it decreased to about 5-7 seconds long.

Although the oak tannins and maltiness/bready-ness should mean that The Classic Laddie doesn’t process for me as being particularly “smooth,” on the finish it was/is strangely smooth in spite of all of these notes and the continuing palate challenges posed by whiskies in general and malt whiskies specifically. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this. On the one hand, it was strongly recommended to me by a whisky expert friend whose opinions I have no reason not to trust. On the other hand, though, are my continued “suspicions” of whiskies due to the palate challenges they pose to me. In the end, I actually enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, The Classic Laddie without much of an effort, despite all of these factors.

On all subsequent tasting sessions, The Classic Laddie retained essentially the same aroma and flavor profiles, though my nose and palate receptors have become more attuned to pick up other flavors and aromas that may have always been there but which I could not pick up or process initially. On the nose during subsequent sessions, I picked up a buttery quality to the oak notes and the salinity on both the nose and the palate has become much clearer. The scotch continues to be a wonderful balance of all of the aforementioned aromas and flavors, each note balancing the others to create a harmonious spirit. It’s still challenging to someone like myself who is at the very beginning of experimenting with whiskies, but even still is enjoyable and pleasant while also being complex.

Experimenting with water, I conducted one tasting session using my Glencairn crystal pipette and Smartwater. After letting the scotch rest and aerate for over one-and-a-half hours again, I took notes on the aroma and the flavor profiles before and after putting in three to four drops of water. On the nose, the water accentuated the woody caramel and vanilla notes with some fruit and citrus notes behind them together with maltiness/bready-ness. The “buttery” oak notes were clear in the background. On the palate with the water drops, the overall flavor profile remained largely the same at first, though there was perhaps a slightly lighter mouthfeel and a more oak and malt forward set of flavors. The heat on the swallow of a sip, particularly in the nostrils, remained largely the same, though it was perhaps slightly accentuated. After I let the scotch sit a bit, subsequent sips with the water had lighter, fruitier (more fruit-forward) sweetness mixed with citrus, oak tannins, black pepper, salinity, and malt/bready-ness/oaty-ness. Although it was still pleasant, I prefer The Classic Laddie without any water or ice. Neat all the way.