Celebrating 20 years of milestones with a series of our liquid firsts, the Laddie Origins recipe draws
unpeated single malt from 13 casks, across 12 vintages, 6 barley types, and 9 different cask types !!.
Hand-selected by Adam Hannet, this recipe contains Bruichladdich’s first-ever taste of biodynamically grown barley,
which in itself is a Scotch single malt first! Triple distilled Bruichladdich as well as casks containing
some of our oldest barley-exploration spirits have also been selected for this vatting. While they cannot divulge the year of distillation for each component due to Scotch law, Bruichladdich can share some information about the ingredients used in the final batting, it contains whisky from the following casks / profiles / barley profiles:
Biodynamic Crop – Spirit distilled from biodynamically grown barley by Richard
Gantlett at Yatesbury Farm, 1st fill bourbon cask
Triple Distillation (X3) – Unpeated Bruichladdich spirit from our first dally into triple
distillation, 1st fill bourbon cask
Post Resurrection – From the year of resurrection, some of the first
Bruichladdich unpeated spirit to run from our freshly polished stills, 1st fill bourbon cask.
Organic – Grown with minimal intervention by William Rose at Mid Coul,
Inverness, 2nd fill bourbon cask
Islay Barley – From their Islay-growing farming partners, from the first year
of this Islay barley project, 1st fill bourbon cask
Orkney Bere Barley The oldest stock remaining of their Orkney grown six-row
ancient landrace, 1st fill bourbon cask
Regional trials from Black Isle – From their single estate, northern contingency of our Regional
Trials experiment, 1st fill bourbon cask
PX Sherry from Fernando de Castilla cask – Commemorating the partnership with Jerez bodega , 1st fill PX sherry butt, Scottish Mainland Barley
Pauillac Wine cask – From the year Remy Cointreau invested behind Bruichladdich, 2nd fill Hogshead from the Pauillac region of France, Scottish Mainland Barley.
French Eaux de vie cask – From the Cognac region in France, 1st fill French Eaux de Vie cask, Scottish Mainland Organic Barley.
Sauternes wine cask : Islay-grown barley distilled and then matured in a 1st fill Sauternes casks.
Rivesaltes wine – From the early years of our Islay barley project, matured in 1st fill Rivesaltes red wine cask
Chenin Blanc wine cask: Distilled from organically grown barley, matured in 2nd fill bourbon to 2nd fill Chenin Blanc hogshead.
The whisky itself carries a 7 year old age statement (well, the youngest ingredient is indeed 7 yo), but most of it is older… there are 3,500 bottles, which are to be sold only via ballot. Usually batting so many different cask types and different profiles is a real challenge (7,8,9 wood etc). let’s see if Adam has succeeded here.
Bruichladdich ‘Origins’ Feis Ile 2021, 56.3% , £150
Nose: The nose screams “Bruichladdich” to me from the first sniff, which is good/bad depending on your preferences. Not sure I can put my finger on the exact note, but it’s quite clear. It’s sweet with orchard fruit, bright apples, and also quite some grain / porridge / barley sugars here. The sweet profile is balanced by some citrus notes, and maybe some oak char, as well as wine tannins (red wine), which are quite noticeable, but not over the top. Further nosing reveals some mint leaves and herbaceous notes along with toffee and marzipan. It certainly is an interesting start, with the right balance and complexity.
Palate: A peppery and spicy entry , with chilly, pepper and ginger powder giving way to sweeter notes : brioche and berry jam, wood spices and more dessert wine notes, and tannins.A nice dullop of oak, citrus and kirschwasser , with quite some sugar and clove.
Finish: long and sweet with sugar, more oak, and the dessert wine tannins along carmel and red fruit go a long way.
Conclusion: This is indeed an interesting whisky, while complex and quite sweet, it is really likable and easy-drinking, but i would have to say, it is good, but I usually prefer my Laddies with some smoke, as I feel they really shine at PC level and UP. Having said that, Bruichladdich (not PC, or Octomorem, but plain laddie fans ) are going to really like this one. It’s well made, but I’ve tried better editions in past years.
Score: 86/100
Happy Feis ile ! let’s hope this year’s the last time it is held virtually.