Bruichladdich Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1881 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

Islay isn't particularly famous for its cake, but that might be as they've put all their useful ingredients into the nose of this peaty offering: cinnamon, prunes, lots of marzipan, almonds, vanilla, apples and Christmas itself. If they were to instead make an anti-cake, then they'd have also shoved it into the nasal offering: soil, medicine and nail varnish would make an unusual sponge, but certainly adds interest here. Finally, there's a distinct orchardiness with apples as well as cider vinegar, with that vinegar ultimately lending itself to a pack of salt & vinegar crisps.

Sweet fruitiness abounds: peaches, mango, vanilla, soft liquorice and then things get really cordial with some elderflower. There's a chili spice and pepper on the tongue giving way to more unusual flavours including marmite on wholegrain toast and hay / dry grass. Things get a little less conventional from here on in: echinacea, bark, burnt rubber and a bit of Rannoch Moor finishing things off.

It's definitely a long finish and things don't differ much from the initial taste, albeit in slightly different forms. The fruitiness comes from melon, strawberries and dried mango. The spiciness varies in intensity from celery and ollo rosso to pepper and finally some wasabi peas finishing off this dram with an oriental hit.

~£35 (70cl)

Bruichladdich Peat - Official Site   |   http://bruichladdich.com/joomla/index.php?pag
Islay Cake Recipe (they do make cake!)   |   http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/157857/islay-ca

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

87 / 100