Bruichladdich Peat

Bruichladdich Peat was rolled out as a replacement for the ‘3d’ series (check out my review of the 3d3 Norrie Campbell, where I also wrote a bit about the distillery) and is, in true Islay style, quite heavily peated and smoky. However, the aim for the ‘peat’ expression was to produce a heavily peated whisky without the medicinal notes that tend to accompany such expressions.  I personally found the prospect of such a whisky quite intriguing and even exciting, so the question is – did they succeed?

I won’t leave you hanging for once, the answer is yes, they did succeed, and the result is quite splendid. What they have done is produce a peated whisky with a lovely smokiness, without it being quite as heavy as they normally are, and the smoke sort of just dances along your palate while the peat is far from overwhelming or dominating.

The nose does carry peat and smoke, but as I mentioned it is quite light, along with salt, cinnamon, vanilla, fruit and sweet sugared lemon. All in all it is very appetizing, and really lures you in to try a sip. Once you do, you will find even more cinnamon on the palate, along with the peat, light smoke, molasses, over-ripe pear and some spicy pepper. For such a heavily peated expression it offers a lovely range of easily accessible flavours, and as such it would probably serve very well as an introduction to the heavier Islay expressions.

Color: Copper.

Nose: Peat, light smoke, salt, cinnamon, fruit, vanilla and sugared lemon.

Taste: More cinnamon, peat, light smoke, molasses, over-ripe pear, spicy pepper.

Want to buy this whisky? Available in: USA & World (click), UK & Europe (click)