Whisky Review: Bruichladdich 12 year old Second Edition
July 27, 2012 § 7 Comments
Considering all of the Bruichladdich news going on this week, I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in and refocus on what I’m most interested in: the WHISKY!
(But in case you missed it, the fiercely independent Islay distillery just confirmed that they are selling to Remy.)
So today I am reviewing one of my favorite Bruichladdich expressions, the Second Edition 12 year Islay Single Malt, 46% abv aged in Bourbon barrels.
NOSE: Cinnamon bark, cherry (black? fresh?), Red Hot candies, caramel, black licorice mixed with a magic marker, peat is there but quite light and masked by the spicy candy notes
TASTE: Sweet cherry candy (jolly rancher?), cherry morphs into cinnamon, starts medium-strong and balloons up to the peat
FINISH: Bold and very strong, move through the pallet, nice tingling that lingers on lips & tongue for quite a while
What’s your favorite ‘laddich?
The Whisky Woman 
It’s been a long while since I’ve tried this one, but you’re right – it’s good to focus on the whisky!
Welcome Mark @ Malt!
Thanks for your comment! Have you a favorite Bruichladdich at the moment? I’m glad I have some of this one around and would also love to have one of their more peat-forward expressions.
Thanks!
WW
Apologies for the lag in response!
Wow, where to start… The Bruichladdich First Growth series are fascinating drams, because they’re finished in super-posh wine casks which give the whisky a really unusual texture. The Islay series is really interesting. The Octomore is quite insane, but staggeringly complex. I could go on! What I like about them is that they’re not afraid of trying different things.
Yo WW!
Great review!
I’m sure I’ve had this before, but can’t remember it all too well. I like most Laddies. The recent Laddie Ten was fabulous, but sadly, it’s all gone. I had a brief tasting of a Laddie PX 17 earlier in the year. That was fantastic! I will be taking a sample of the Peated Laddie on vacation tomorrow along with a big ass sample of the Peat Monster Reserve. I’ll let you know how it pairs with lobster and other New England treats. I suspect the Peat Monster might be interesting to try with a chocolate Whoopie Pie! We’ll be sure to wave as we cross the GW.
Cheers!
G-LO
Hey G-LO!
I love how you think! A good peat monster w/whoopie pie & lobster!? YES PLEASE!!!! I had the PC6 (Port Charlotte 6) in May in San Francisco and it was fantastic. I need to dig up my notes on that one and post about that one too. I love the Laddich’s and hope this merger will give them the financial support they need to keep creating such unique and interesting whiskies.
Happy traveling!
-WW
I’m actually a bit more worried about these rumors that Jim McEwan is retiring. While Bruichladdich has been releasing a crazy amount of expressions, many of them are pretty good and I think Jim’s penchant for experimenting was a big factor in making things interesting. Here’s hoping the rumors aren’t true.
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