The Bruichladdich A Paulliac Cuvée 16 it the first out of totally 6 limited editions to be released under The First Growth label.
The First Growth series comprises of 6 limited edition Cuvées – labelled A to F. Each is a 16 year old Bruichladdich, American oak matured, with an additional cask evolution in French oak casks from each of the 1855 first growth chateaux, including Sauternes. The famous 1855 Classification of Bordeaux rated chateaux into 5 groups according to quality and price of their wines. The First Growths were the best. Today these legendary estates use casks coopered from the finest French oak, 150 to 200 year old trees from the forests of Tronçais, Allier and Vosges.
Bruichladdich Distillery managing director Mark Reynier, ex wine trade, works closely with master distiller Jim McEwan who is also a cooper: “The unusual concept should appeal to both whisky and wine fans alike – especially those who like to compare and contrast between different bottlings.”
Bruichladdich has released two bottlings of the same vintage to compare and contrast.
In July 1998, identically distilled whisky was filled in to Sherry casks for full term maturation. Recent tastings proved that unexpectedly two types of casks were used.
One cask type had contained Oloroso, a dark, sweet, fortified wine, the backbone of ‘cream’ sherry. The other Manzanilla, a pale, dry, sophisticated wine aged by the Atlantic. Having absorbed [click to continue…]
I wrote yesterday about Lagavulin being used as fuel. Well, didn’t take long before I had another strange whisky fuel experiment in my inbox. This time it involved Bruichladdich.
BBC filmed an unusual biofuel experiment on the whisky island of Islay.
The experiment involved TV’s wine expert Oz Clarke and Top Gear’s James May attempting to run a high performance racing car on a special distillation of Bruichladdich single malt whisky.
Bruichladdich’s unique quadruple-distilled X4 Islay Spirit was first tasted by wine & spirit expert Oz Clarke for proof before 3 litres were filled in to the car’s fuel tank.
A 150 mph Radical SR4 racing car from Radical Sportscars, the Peterborough-based manufacturer, was selected for the test. The engine was not modified in anyway at all.
Using an Atlantic shore road closed to traffic by the island’s 5 policemen – cleared of sheep and cattle – the racing car achieved a hair-raising 0-60 in 3.5 seconds over four runs.
“The exhaust smells much better than petrol”, said Duncan MacGillivray, Bruichladdich distillery manager, “sure it’s a sustainable biofuel; but at £26 a litre, the Duty and VAT isn’t! Fuel here is a whopping £1.50 – £1.60 a litre – so it’s not a viable alternative – just yet. The police even tried to breathalyse the car but fortunately they had the wrong type of tester.”
The second edition bottling of 18 year old of Bruichladdich Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky has just been bottled and is leaving Islay for the first time.
It was designed to compliment the original 18 year old bottling matured in American oak then refined in Willi Opitz’s Austrian sweet wine casks – which too quickly sold out.
Equally, this 2nd edition has matured for 18 years in American oak. It too has spent time in sweet wine, French oak casks – but this time from the Pyrenean appellation of Jurançon. This small, little-known French appellation, hidden away in the mountains, produces a decadently sweet wine from the obscure Petit Manseng grape late-harvested in November.
Mark Reynier, Bruichladdich MD “ Boy it’s a cracker: balance, harmony, complexity, fruit, body – this has it all – and a deliciously golden hue to match, reflected by the alluring colours of the tin design.”
The new bottling will be available while stocks last – possibly up to 18 months and will retail at £50
[updated with new photos of bottles and packaging 2008 07 03]
I’ve always been a fan of Bruichladdich original styled Islay whisky, so I’m glad to report on some new “ cuvée’s” from the destillery.
The multi-vintage range concept now launched by Bruichladdich was originally inspired by Champagne’s Remi Krug: “With a single vintage, it is God who decides on the quality. But with a multi-vintage, I am God.”
The three new bottlings, Rocks, Waves and Peat has been assembled by Jim McEwan from several ages of Bruichladdich single malt, from different cask types and diverse whisky characteristics. All of them are designed to show the full repertoire of Bruichladdich style and peat flavour – the whole gamut of Islay whiskies.
MD Mark Reynier describes the new range as follows:
“Rocks is the classic aperitif cuvée – minimal peat, so deliciously fresh and fruity – with a surprisingly sophisticated flavour profile thanks to the French oak cask influences.”
“Waves is mildly peaty at around 15ppm, beguilingly elegant with oodles of Bruichladdich finesse and fruit. A real anytime of day dram.”
“Peat does what it says on the tin. It replaces the 3D range, has been toned down a bit with an average peatiness of around 35ppm. Plenty of peat but with out the medicine.”
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The First Growth series comprises of 6 limited edition Cuvées – labelled A to F. Each is a 16 year old Bruichladdich, American oak matured, with an additional cask evolution in French oak casks from each of the 1855 first growth chateaux, including Sauternes. The famous 1855 Classification of Bordeaux rated chateaux into 5 groups according to quality and price of their wines. The First Growths were the best. Today these legendary estates use casks coopered from the finest French oak, 150 to 200 year old trees from the forests of Tronçais, Allier and Vosges.
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