Bruichladdich

Scotchology: Year Four

Scotchology: Year Four

Against all expectation, the end of this past June marks the fourth anniversary of the first time the original group of us got together, before we even called ourselves Scotchology. Before all kinds of hi-jinks, travels, and tastings. And despite the best of intentions to make this an annual sort of thing, it has been two years since the last update. It seems like a long time since June of 2013, when four of us began to regularly meet for the expressed purpose of exploring single malt scotch together. We’d never have dreamed we’d find ourselves where we are now. Wait, where are we?

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008

Bruichladdich has been pushing the sense of locality and terroir with their NAS offerings lately, and this Port Charlotte is no different, made with barley exclusively from the island of Islay, something the Peat Project we tried a few years ago didn’t claim, and a variant of the Scottish barley used in the Classic Laddie we recently had. The grain was harvested in 2008 from the farms at Coull, Kynagarry, Island, Rockside, Starchmill & Sunderland, then distilled that December before being aged on the shores of Loch Indaal. You’d strain to find a more local dram.

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie

Built by three brothers on the shore of Loch Indaal in the village of Bruichladdich in 1881, the distillery has traveled a bumpy road on occasion, including being mothballed several times. The current iteration has been open since the turn of the century, sprearheaded by the legendary Jim McEwan as master distiller until his retirement in 2015. Purchased by Rémy Cointreau in 2012, Bruichladdich continues to expand whisky horizons with one eye on the storied scotch legacy of yore. Serving as their signature bottling, the Scottish Barley noted prominently on the bottle points to everything about the whisky being sourced, made and aged in Scotland.