Bruichladdich 18 Year Old 2nd Edition
Straw wine
0 082
Review by @markjedi1
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall82
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- Brand: Bruichladdich
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Islay
- ABV: 46%
This is a Laddie that I encountered first at the birthday party of my buddy Jan. The label says Vin de Paille, which literally means straw wine. It is a French wine from the Jura region where the grapes (Chardonnay, Savagnin en Poulsard) dry on straw mats. The whisky matured for 18 years in a bourbon cask and then got a few months to finish in casks of this sweet wine, which immediately explains the amber color with pink hues.
The wine is immediately apparent on the nose. Sweet, red wine with raisins and black, juicy grapes. Some leather and honey. After a few minutes, the wine evaporates (sorta) and typical bourbon traits appear. Esters and coconut, but also graeffe (light brown) sugar. Some nuts. The make it complex, it also offers a trace of smoke and, completely at the end, some sea salt. What a great nose!
It is very oily with a beautiful body. Very spicy too (pepper, cinnamon, thym and ginger) and somewhat bitter from toasted oak, but never over the top. It warms the insides. You can really taste the wine, even though it does not dominate the whisky. Nice composition, which is not always an easy feat with wine.
Only in the long, warm finish does the wine suddenly make it a little too bittersweet with a sourish touch. Pity.
Absolutely one of the better wine finishes. Thanks, Jan. Apparently, there is also a version that has been finished on an Austrian wine.
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