The Best Place in the World

There is much to be written about Bruichladdie and its rescue by a group of private investors to re-emerge as a truly traditional distillery but the editor’s preference for brevity remains and I’ll focus on the actual whisky, which makes its own case more than adequately. Harking back to the criticism of Scottish marketing, Bruichladdich stands proud as an exception to that rule. A distillery that makes so much of its traditional methods and absence of modern technology that manages to win the “Innovator of the Year” award for 2004 must be run by some very astute people. An obvious example of this is their “Bruichladdich Links” series of limited edition bottlings launched in 2003, which celebrates the two Scottish passions of whisky and golf. Although an 18-year-old might have been more appropriate, each of the series is bottled at fourteen years and the first released was “The Old Course, St. Andrews-17th Hole”.

Of the eleven released so far, I have only sampled one, the fourth in the series, “Turnberry 10th”, and it was an experience that I truly enjoyed. The immediate surprise was the lack of peatiness in this golden coloured malt. Indeed, there was a strong fruitiness to the nose and the taste and finish were spicy and even slightly sweet. Given that each of these bottlings are strictly limited, with an average of 12,000 bottles released, it is not surprising that they are hard to find in Hong Kong, although visitors to St Andrews for this year’s Open might be lucky enough to find a few bottles. However, there is no need to despair as a variety of Bruichladdich bottlings are more readily available. The 12- and 18-year-olds are both matured in bourbon casks and are delightfully complex examples of Islay malts which eschew the traditional peat and salt dominated flavours. The distillery is also receiving much praise for its series of sherry-aged varieties and I eagerly anticipate sampling them, perhaps while watching a Scot sneak in at St Andrews.

With that in mind, we should reflect that while Jimmy Johnstone would have been advised to seek a nearer island and a better drink, Scotland, with his assistance, did go on to hammer the English two-nil four days later. Should Monty be found afloat off Islay in the early hours of a July morning I’d be excitedly optimistic. - J.B.

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