Coming Soon - 2008 Signatory Vintage Royal Brackla 16 Year Old Symington's Choice Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

"A truly great dram. The sherry notes are not overpowering and harmonize very well with the fruity Brackla distillery character." - whiskybase.com

A chance to jump on the Symington's Choice selections without emptying your wallet. The majority wouldn't have heard of this Bacardi-owned distillery, known for its role in blended whiskies. Fewer still would have tasted a Brackla quite like this. It even seems a little under-valued given the enthusiasm generated for a sub $200 malt at whiskybase.com. (Serge Valentin at whiskyfun was similarly impressed). A great introduction to the distillery for newcomers with unanimous praise, the deal sweetened by a direct import price. Sounds way too good to miss. Is anyone doing stuff like this besides Signatory? 676 bottles from an American oak first-fill sherry butt at 58.2% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... "A truly great dram" / "Very, very good." / "Cake, brown sugar, tobacco, a very heavy sherry, but almost no sulphur." - whiskybase.com

...And here comes the full sherry treatment. I don’t believe Brackla is quite a distinctive enough malt to fight an onslaught, so we’re bracing ourselves for a proper bacchanalia of dried fruits and assorted nuts. Colour: full gold. Nose: well, no, this is civilised stuff, still focused on walnuts and hazelnuts, but also soft pipe tobacco, bitter orange, triple sec, chestnut purée… With water: strong ale and an old tobacco tin. Mouth (neat): very bitter, heavily cask-driven, all cedarwood, pencil shavings, bitter orange, green walnut, fresh turmeric… It feels rather like a brawler on the palate at this stage, truth be told. With water: that same strong ale again, Belgian no doubt, cellared for twenty years or more. My beer knowledge pretty much ends there, though we’ve surely gone well beyond that point already. The sherry remains squarely in the nutty corner, dry and bitter as it should be. Finish: fairly long, though a touch less dry, with notes of mead, for instance. And naturally, old amontillado. Comments: very classically Jerezian. 87 points - whiskyfun.com