Bruichladdich Links 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Pronounced "brook-laddie," Bruichladdich was traditionally one of the least peaty of the Islay malts, although ironically it is rated as the islanders' favourite. The distillery was built in 1881 by Barnet Harvey at an ideal location on the edge of Loch Indaal, on the Rhinns, the most westerly point of Islay. At the time it was a state-of-the-art plant, and it has remained very much the same ever since with most of the original equipment still in use. Apart from a break in the 1920's and 1930's whisky has been produced steadily until 1983 when production ceased briefly. In 1985, the future looked bleak when the distillery's owners, Invergordon, were taken over by Whyte and Mackay who chose to focus efforts on their flagship single malts, Dalmore and Isle of Jura at the expense of Bruichladdich. Thankfully the distillery's future is brighter since its purchase by the whisky independent Murray McDavid in December 2000. Jim McEwan and his team have breathed life back into the place, with Islay's first bottling hall also now installed.

Bruichladdich Links is a series of limited edition bottlings chosen by Master Distiller, Jim McEwan. The Links labels associate this great single malt with the art of Graeme Baxter, the world’s leading golf artist. This, the fourth in the Bruichladdich Links series, depicts “Turnberry 10th.”

Tasting note: Aged in refill sherry casks. One taste bears this out with its dominant honeyed fruit foundation (lemons, melons, pineapple). Still, that Bruichladdich freshness and appetizing “sea breeze” character dovetails nicely. Fuller, more rounded, and with a bit more going on here than the Full Strength expression reviewed below, but not as appetizing. 46% Alc./Vol.
Rating: 84 - tasting note sourced from The Malt Advocatesize>