Penny for Your Thoughts - Bruichladdich Islay Barley, Glenfiddich 15, Aberlour 12
My wife and I tried a few new whiskies while out to dinner last week, although unfortunately there weren't any stunners in this group.
Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2009 (50% ABV) - I am not a huge fan of Bruichladdich. In fact, if there were a small meteor headed for Islay and I had the godlike power to choose which distillery would take the hit, it'd probably be these guys (sorry! I just love my peaty scotches too much). With that being said, this unpeated line of whiskies, put out under the distillery's own name, isn't half-bad. Bruichladdich is leading the charge in the so-called "terroir" movement, playing up the fact that their Islay barley line only includes grain from farms on the island itself and the fact that these barrels are aged on the island. Most of the other major distilleries actually age a lot of their product on the mainland, where there's more room. Here's what all that one-of-a-kind Islay-ness produces: a strong nose of apple cider and scents similar to rose wine, including a little zest and cotton candy. On the palate, there are loads of classic scotch honey, grapefruit and more apple, and a mixture of waxy, spicy, and nutty characteristics that is quite an overload of flavors. It's a bit discordant, but also complex. The finish is spicy and a tiny bit bitter, and is where the whisky's youth reveals itself. For $55-60, I'd probably look elsewhere, but it's a solid sipper. B Aberlour 12 (43%) - After finishing the Bruichladdich, I moved on to trying the basic expression from Aberlour. The distillery refers to it as "double cask matured," essentially meaning that it's the product of both sherry and traditional oak aging. Overall, I was left with the impression that this is another faintly sherried whisky that has trouble standing out. That means there are scents of dates and raisins, lending it a Mediterranean air. The highlight was a mild, creamy sweetness that reminded me a bit of a creme brûlée, but that was offset by a coppery or metallic note. In its aroma and its texture, this comes across as a thin whisky. This scotch is a pale imitation of Aberlour A'bunadh, it's more expensive and muscular bigger brother. And I didn't even like that one all that much. C+ Glenfiddich 15 Solera Reserve (40%) - We had this scotch at the same time as we tried Aberlour 12, and it stood out as seeming to be richer, with fuller, darker flavors, and a thicker texture, than that scotch. That's a pretty big surprise considering that it actually is more diluted. The unique feature of this scotch is that Glenfiddich makes it in a "solera," which is a massive wooden container in which a distiller mixes a variety of whiskies. It then bottles some of the volume each time it has an outrun, but then dumps in more whisky to refill the solera, which is never completely emptied. The idea behind using a solera is that it produces better uniformity of flavor across different batches of a product. The practical upshot of all this is a clear leap above the mediocre Glenfiddich 12. The nose has some sherry influence as well, and dark, brown sugar aromas. On the palate, it's a sweet, wine-influenced whisky, but with a buttery sweetness that reminds of a cinnamon roll (albeit with most of the spice brushed off) or a beignet. The finish is relatively short, with mild, malty flavors. B