Bruichladdich Black Art 10.1

Bruichladdich Black Art 10.1

Region: Islay

ABV: 45.1%

Price: £395.00

This year’s release is the sixth Black Art bottling from Adam Hannett. Like last year it's a 29year old, unpeated single malt, and other than that there’s not a huge amount else we can tell you about the release.

Well actually there is one other thing we can tell you.. it will set you back about £395. For those of you keeping track, it's a £45 increase on last year’s release, which itself was a significant jump from the previous year.

Nose

Initially we’re getting some cinnamon, chocolate buttons and ginger. Going back to it and there’s cloves, faint charred oak, and peaches. Giving it air reveals cranberries, raspberries. We’re reminded of Special K cereal. Honestly, it’s something you could nose all day and keep getting something new. The nose hasn’t given us any clues to the recipe for this release.

Palate

On our initial sip we’re getting limoncello, raisin, sultanas, and red berries. The sweetness transitions into ginger and cinnamon spice on a good length finish. It’s got a good mouthfeel which is a touch syrupy. Surprisingly it’s still got a fair amount of alcohol bite even at 45.1%. Going back to it and there’s a hint of smoke and vanilla essence.

Nose (with water)

We’re finding water has brought out a sulphury note, along with a musty / yeastiness. Going back and we're finding the fruity notes have mostly disappeared. They’ve been replaced by toasted oak, brioche buns and the faintest hint of blackberry pie. We enjoyed the nose more pre-dilution.

Palate (with water)

The syrupy texture of the mouthfeel remains, but we’re finding the fruiter notes replaced by caramel. It’s like we’re drinking treacle / golden syrup instead of fruit syrup. It’s now got a medium finish with white pepper spice lingering. Like the nose, the palate doesn’t benefit from dilution.

Conclusion

We had a lot of fun nosing this dram (pre dilution), and found the palate pleasant, but for £395 pleasant doesn’t cut it. We’re huge Laddie nerds and are always excited when a new release arrives, but this seems to fall into the trap of other recent OB Laddie releases where the quality of the dram just doesn’t match the price tag. Personally, we’ll look at the independent bottler market for our next Laddie fix.

Score: 7/10

If you're based in the UK and want to try a dram of this, we've still got a few available on our dram club.

• 10 - Perfection. A whisky that we’ll remember forever.
• 9 - Amazing. We’d pay through the nose for a bottle.
• 8 - Great. Pick this up at RRP.
• 7 - Good. Happy to have a dram or two but wouldn’t buy a bottle.
• 6 - Passable. Would accept a dram, but wouldn’t seek it out.
• 5 - Poor. Would drink if it was the only option.
• 4 - Bad. Maybe it can be saved by ginger beer?
• 3 - Awful. It can't be saved by ginger beer.
• 2 - Pour it out
• 1 - We’ve never tried a whisky rated this low and hopefully never will.

Interested in trying drams like these? We've created the Two Whisky Bros Dram Club to help you get access to high quality, rare whisky by the dram.