Like its neighbor on the island of Bunnahabhain Distillery, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an unpeated single malt, mostly due to its demands from the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte & Mackay, which eventually closed it down in 1995, believing it to be surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recycled Lomond still produces the popular Botanist gin there.
This whiskey was distilled in 1990 and aged in single refill ex-Sherry hogshead #3000 for 30 years. It was bottled by Gordon & MacPhail on March 15, 2021.
Gordon & MacPhail is one of the largest and most recognizable whiskey companies in the world. Although they began distilling at the newly renovated Benromach Distillery in 1998, for most of their history they were an independent bottler. Their labels are recognized by whiskey lovers worldwide, and their licensed bottlings from distilleries such as Macallan and Talisker in the 1970s and 1980s, when the companies did not bottle themselves, are a large part of the success of these distilleries today.
The Connoisseurs Choice brand is one of the most recognizable independent bottlings on the market and this release follows the 2018 rejuvenation of the brand which saw it rebranded as a premium range of single casks.
One of 228 bottles.
Bruichladdich Vintage 1990 is a Scotch single malt whiskey from Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice range. The whiskey was distilled on 15/6 1990, and was bottled at cask strength on 15/3 2021. In other words, it has spent 30 years in a refill sherry cask, which has given it a nice color, while at the same time it has lots of flavor of old, aged whiskey.
Colour: Dark amber.
Aroma: Dried dates with a little orange peel and ginger.
Tasting notes: Sweet baked apples with marzipan and a hint of cherry, which transitions into slightly toasted oak.
Serving suggestion: Enjoy it plain, possibly with a few drops of water.
Gordon & MacPhail are to the noble single malt what Lennon & McCartney are to pop music. For more than 100 years, they have insisted on jumping over where the fence is highest. The inherited sense of selecting the absolute best casks from a wide range of distilleries is practiced today as it was 100 years ago. Once the dish is selected, it is transported to G&M’s warehouse in Elgin. Here the cask is looked after and cared for along with thousands of other selected casks until that day in the future, be it five, ten or fifty years down the line, when the whiskey has reached its zenith. Only here are the precious drops bottled.
