Up for today’s tasting is a pair of single malts from Bruichladdich. I’m pretty excited about this one, folks, mainly because I think that my personal comparison pick should create a perfect companion. We’ll see how that goes. The first dram is courtesy of the Cask Explorer‘s Advent Calendar (Diamond Edition). It’s a 26-year-old single malt from 1994 (bottled in 2020) in the elusive and exclusive Black Art series. More on that later. The second dram, which I pulled from the shelves of The Whisky Exchange, is also a 26-year-old single malt, this time from 1992 (bottled in 2019) by the Elixir Distillers (ElD) under The Single Malts of Scotland series. So they’re close in many attributes, but definitely not the same. Let’s get right to it, but first, we need music! Now playing: ASC – Eye of the Storm.

Before we get to the tasting, I pour both drams into my Glencairns and let them breathe for about 26 minutes (a minute in a glass for a year in a barrel). This is a perfect time to cover a bit of the background. The Bruichladdich is an Islay distillery. It was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers. Today it is owned by Rémy Cointreau, producing three brands: the staple Bruichladdich, which is an unpeated single malt; Port Charlotte, a heavily peated single malt; and Octomore, which basically shoots it out of the ballpark in terms of peat. Its master distiller, Jim McEwan, who has previously worked at Bowmore (since he was 15), created a very special and super secret vatting of various casks from 1994 (before the distillery closed as being “surplus to requirements”). Even his colleagues [supposedly] don’t know the recipe. Black Art is described as “bewitching, sensuous, and decadent“, linking it to “a dark, dreamy quotation from Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic poem ‘The Raven’ – a suitable accompaniment for what is fast becoming a cult whisky.” Uncoloured and non-chill filtered, this whisky is bottled at 45.1% ABV. There is some sweetened and dried fruit, a bit of [cashew?] nut and honey on the nose, with a distant scent of lightly brushed vanilla. There are some ex-sherry casks in here, I can tell – I get that from that darker fruity sweetness. Let’s go in for a taste. Wow, lots of wood, then saltiness and spices. It’s very full and thick and incredibly layered with complexity. The finish is pretty long, and as I type this, I am still trying to pick out the flavours. It was a bit unexpected in its arrival, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing just yet. I will come back in just a moment.

The Elixir Distillers are owned by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, who also owned the Whisky Exchange before they sold it off to Pernod Ricard. So it makes sense that the shop continues to stock its bottlings of single malts, and single casks, in this case, under The Single Malts of Scotland label. Here, the Bruichladdich spent the entire 26 years in one barrel [they do not reveal what type] before being bottled at a cask strength of 54.2% ABV. It’s also uncoloured and non-chill filtered, so I will call it an integrity bottling. Let’s nose it a bit and then give it a taste. It’s fresher, sharper, and slightly more pungent. I’m not getting a strong hit of alcohol on the nose as much as I thought I would from the higher ABV. There are green apples, apricots, and a very faint caramel on the edges. This is most likely an ex-bourbon barrel, as I don’t pick on any hints of sherry. Let’s try it without water first. It’s woodsy once again, but this time, the wood is fresher. It’s herbal and bold but definitely oakey and bitter at the very end. The alcohol is now definitely higher, so I’ll add water to see if it opens up. Hmm. Even with water, it feels like it spent time with too much wood. A bit of sawdust and some bitter tar. All I can taste right after the arrival, in the development, and the finish, is the inside of the oak barrel. Interesting that they don’t even tell you what type of cask it is. The label simply says “barrel”, so I think that’s a definite sign that something is not really right here [next time, think about the lack of information twice]. This may be a great example of when an older whisky, sitting in that same barrel for 26 years, would just take on too much of all that wood instead of mellowing out. This is one of those bottles I will have to blend with something else. Maybe something very young and peaty with something sherried and a little old.

Distillery / Region	Bruichladdich / Islay	Bruichladdich / Islay
Producer	Rémy Cointreau	Rémy Cointreau
Bottler / Series	Distillery / Black Art	Elixir Distillers / Single Malts of Scotland
Stated Age / Vintage	26 years old / 1994	26 years old / 1992
Cask type	undisclosed	undisclosed
ABV / Cask Strength	45.1 / No	54.2 / Yes
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£425.00	£325

I have to admit – I actually spent a few days going through this tasting. There were two reasons for this. One – I was interrupted. I had to take a phone call, and then I had some dinner plans. And two – I wanted the second bottle (from Elixir) to breathe a bit after I popped the cork. Unfortunately, even upon returning [two days later], I haven’t noticed that much of a difference. I’m slightly disappointed, I’ll admit. The Black Art was a 30ml dram from the calendar, while the single cask is an entire bottle I bought for a whopping £325. Yes, I had higher expectations. And I really like Bruichladdich! But there is simply too much wood, and it’s pretty bitter on the finish. You live and learn, folks, live and learn. With that said, I will proclaim Bruichladdich Black Art 08.1 as the winner of this round and spend some time deciding what to do with the rest of that 26-year-old.

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p.s. I’ve blended it a bit with a very young Caol Ila (5-year-old), and they both lifted each other up. I think this particular bottle needs to stand on the shelves a bit and breathe to exhale all of that funk that it kept all these years. Stay tuned for an update because I will come back in about six months.