Some serious catching up to do. Bruichladdich has been awfully prolific with its offerings - local barleys, wine finishings, Octomore, Port Charlottes, the new Laddie Ten...whew. And here I am, cradling my very own Laddie Ten...from the first edition in 2012/3.
This baby was bought in Taiwan last year, in that shop near Tamshui station. Really surprised to find a bottling that was already out-of-production. Guess sales move a little more slowly there.
So, this is the old Laddie Ten, when the distillery was finally rebooted and was celebrating the 10th anniversary of its resurrection with this ten year old offering. Reviews then were generally great, and I'm excited to join the bandwagon, 5 years later. This older bottling is at 46% abv, as compared to 50% in the newer release.
Bruichladdich 'Laddie Ten' (46% abv)
Colour - Between hay and gold. Rich yellow.
Nose - Oooh. Sharp. Minerals, lemons, a touch of smoke, some hay and a bit of...soil. This is not all sharp though, as there's some vanilla to give it a little roundness. Mm. Fairly obvious salt, though this doesn't become salty. You get what I mean?
Palate - A sharp attack on salt, lemons, orange zest. Refreshing, actually. The smell of the sea goes well with the sweetness in this - malty sweetness and a touch of honey about it. A fair amount of pepper. Salt and pepper then. That's my new favourite Kettle Chips flavour. Enjoyable sipper, this one.
Finish - Oak, pepper, a little drying. Still a little salty, and orange peel/lemon zest comes back again. Hmm. Maybe a touch of some herb...parsley?
Overall - I really should be comparing this to the new Laddie Ten, but I don't have a bottle of that yet. Glad I bought this, really. Only SGD60. Wow.
No comments:
Post a Comment