Bruichladdich The Laddie Classic

As you know, this week it was announced that near the end of the month, Connosr will cease to exist as an interactive site. This was a shock to some of us who “grew up” in our whisky journey with this site. The site will be available as “read-only” going forward. As someone who has enjoyed reading reviews, and has learned so much by writing reviews, I thought I would get as many in as I can in the coming week before my cabinet is sealed for Passover.

On April 14 I completed tasting notes for 5 Bruichladdich expressions that I was waiting (a very long time) to review. Over the next few days I will complete the reviews and post them. The first 4 were 2 pairs of similar unpeated whiskies which I did compare to each other.

This bottle was one of the first that I opened (March 2011) when I started tasting whisky seriously in 2011. It was featured at my first whisky club, arrogantly named The Ruskin Whisky Tasting Society, a short-lived off-shoot of the very old (est. 1900) Ruskin Literary and Debating Society.

I was not so impressed with this one at first, but by the time I reached my last ounce, saving it in a small sample bottle for just the right moment, it was one that I really liked, but could no longer find anywhere. It has been replaced by others like the Classic Laddie (up next), which remains available. Because this one is never to be found again, I thought it appropriate to start my final series of reviews with it.

It has been years since I decanted the bottle into its 1 oz sample bottle, so I cannot even remember the last time I tasted it. Opened in 2011, that was before I routinely used gas. I tasted it H2H with The Classic Laddie.

This expression is reviewed in my usual manner in a standard Glencairn glass, just like the first time I tried it 13 years ago, allowing it to settle after which I take my nosing and tasting notes, followed by the addition of a few drops of water, waiting, then nosing and tasting.

---

Nose: 22/25

Fruity, bright, sweet, on initial impression. Green apples. Faint hint of baking spices. A hint of light syrup, the kind you’d find in canned fruit. Hint of vanilla. Nice nose. Water brings vanilla and baking spices to the foreground with less emphasis on the fruits.

Taste: 21/25

Sweet, spicy arrival. Thin to medium mouthfeel. Fruity. Caramel. Some vanilla. No significant change with water

Finish: 21.5/25

Peppery on the finish, sweet on the exit.

Balance: 24/25

The nose and the palate complement each other perfectly. This is a very balanced, flavourful whisky with no flaws. With water the nose does not provide as good a preview of the palate. (23/25)

Score: Neat - 88.5/100 With Water: 87.5/100

Score based on nostalgia and enjoyment: 90/100

---

In comparison to the Laddie Classic, Classic Laddie is slightly lighter in colour and has a slightly thicker, more syrupy nose. The palates are very similar, and both reflect the classic Bruichladdich signature, but the Classic Laddie is a bit more peppery. Both very solid drams.

---

Having tasted four solid Bruichladdich expressions at the same sitting, it was almost mandatory that I pour all the contents into a single glass and see what I get.

On the nose, fruits, some spices, a hint of syrup. On the palate, very full flavoured, fruity and peppery. This is very much a good marriage of the sum of its parts. I guess this is because they all have at their core a very solid, high quality, distinctive Bruichladdich distillate.

—-

I will always think back fondly on this expression. I first tasted it when I really didn’t know how my palate would mature. By the time it did, this was a distant memory for the distillery. I looked for bottles of it whenever I was in Calgary for many years, but never found one.

Just like Connsr.com,

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”…

Find where to buy Bruichladdich whisky