Welcome back to another fine tasting of two single malts, where I compare them side-by-side to really understand the difference, pick out a favourite, and hopefully learn something new along the way. For today’s tasting, I pull out the 8th dram from my Cask Explorer‘s 2022 Advent Calendar (Diamond Edition) and find a 30ml bottle of Bruichladdich 1992, the Fino Sherry edition. This is a 17-year-old single malt, and so I try and find something favourable to pair it with from my collection. I hone in on a bottle of an 18-year-old Bruichladdich bottled by Gleann Mór, which I first sampled back in April of last year, and now I am pretty excited to revisit it again! So with that said, let’s get right to it, but first, we need music! Now playing: Hecq – Steeltongued.

I’ll skip the detailed introduction to Bruichladdich and maybe just mention a few facts. Residing on the windswept Isle of Islay, Bruichladdich has championed terroir-driven whisky production since its revival in 2001, stubbornly sticking to locally-sourced barley and on-site distillation. With a fierce commitment to transparency and a deft hand at crafting unpeated (The Classic Laddie), peated (Port Charlotte), and super-heavily peated (Octomore) expressions, Bruichladdich is a testament to the age-old proverb: variety [in whisky] is the spice of life. Today we’re going with the unpeated single malt, so let’s pop open these drams and let them breathe a little. The two whiskies are only about a year apart in age but an entire actual decade apart in vintage. A lot could change in the production style in that decade, I must say, especially since, as stated above, the distillery went through a transformation. To be more explicit, it was mothballed (temporarily closed down) in 1994 before being re-opened in 2001 again. So that means that what I’m drinking here today is from a whole different era! Another important thing to mention about these whiskies is that they are both “finished” single malts. That means that for the majority of their lives, the whiskies were matured in ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred into ex-sherried casks [for an undisclosed amount of time] for yet another round of maturation. This second maturation process gives the whisky an injection of flavour [depending on the cask], which can surely be a good thing. On the other hand, you must ask yourself, what happened here? Was the original ex-bourbon cask full of matured Bruichladdich whisky not good enough as is?

The 2003 vintage, bottled by Gleann Mór for their “A Rare Find” series, says that it’s from a single cask (even gives the number on the label), but other sources say online that it was also finished in an ex-sherry hogshead. OK, let’s stop this speculation and begin the tasting. We love the facts, but in the end, the only thing that matters is the taste. Both single malts are uncoloured and non-chill filtered. That is fantastic in my books. The 1992 edition is slightly lighter in alcohol content, bottled at [only] 46% ABV, while the 2003 edition is bottled at a cask strength of 52.1%. The colour is nearly identical on both, and it has a very nice tint of a sherried whisky. Let’s see the nose on these now. The 1992 Bruichladdich smells absolutely delicious – sweet caramel, stewed fruit, ripe cherries and some spice. The 2003 from Gleann Mór is a lot more woodsy, waxy, maybe citrusy and malty in the distance. Let’s take a sip of 1992. Sweet, slightly sharp, there’s that fino and then caramel and toffee. The medium-length finish lingers for a while, but it is a little thin. Let’s go for the contender now. It’s even thinner but much stronger on arrival. The sweetness now is satin and less fruity, with the finish echoing some chocolate and oak. I’ll add a tiny drop to the first and slightly more to the second because I want to bring the latter down in ABV. The 1992 bottle is fruiter and thicker, and now the 2003 bottle has gone completely deep and dark. Chocolate has almost turned a little bitter, carried with tobacco. It’s not a bad thing, I may say, but it’s a stark comparison to 1992. I’ll add more water to the 2003 bottling and now will taste them in reverse [but first, I take a big swig of S. Pellegrino]. Let me reset my brain, too, sniff my arm, and then pretend I’m tasting for the first time. The Rare Find Bruichladdich is a splendid whisky. It’s just a little bitter [think dark chocolate again], but it is great. And yet, the 1992 is barely better. It’s got more fruity flavours that round off and lift the profile all the way.

Distillery / Region	Bruichladdich / Islay	Bruichladdich / Islay
Bottler / Series	Distillery bottling / Sherry editions	Gleann Mór / A Rare Find
Stated Age / Vintage	17 years old / 1992	18 years old / 2003
Cask type	Ex-bourbon + Fino Sherry finish	Ex-bourbon + Sherry Hogshead (finish?)
ABV / Cask Strength	46% / No	52.1% / Yes
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£ 250 / Discontinued	£ 200 / Limited release
Did it win? / Did I like it?	Yes / Yes	No / Yes
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	Yes / Yes	Yes / Yes

So there you have it, folks, another fantastic pairing. I wish I had more of the Fino Sherry sample to go on. Alas, it’s finished, but I have an entire bottle of the Gleann Mór bottling, which is an absolutely stellar single malt. It’s just I think that I liked the 1992 edition slightly more [that bitterness is now very much pronounced]. So if I had two samples in front of me again and could only pick one, I’d reach for the older vintage. So what have we learned today? Er, I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. Both were fantastic single malts! Perhaps another reminder to pay attention to the label – especially “the lack of mention” [of a second maturation], as is the case with A Rare Find. And with that said, I’ll pause here and proclaim the 1992 Fino Sherry edition from the distillery as the winner of this round.