 Food & Spirits: The famed Bruichladdich distillery on Islay has just released two different expressions of its 1998 single malt Scotch for connoisseurs to compare and contrast. In July 1998, identically distilled whisky was put into two different kinds of rarely-available sherry casks for full term maturation. One type of cask had contained Olorosso, the dark, sweet, fortified wine thats the backbone of cream sherry, while the other contained Manzanilla, a bone-dry style of Fino sherry from the Atlantic port of Sanlcar de Barrameda.
The result is an intriguing comparison, explains Bruichladdichs Mark Reynier. One DNA, one vintage, one warehouse - but two distinct and intriguing expressions of Bruichladdich single malt. Usually sherry casks imply a nutty sweetness leached out of the wood into the whisky, Reynier notes, which is often clumsily over-stated. These two bottlings are delightfully well-balanced, however the real deal.
The Olorosso-aged variety has notes of orange, apricot, plum, raisin, date, toffee, hazelnut, pecan and vanilla, while the Manzanilla variation is a delectable blend of honey, chamomile, macadamia nut, pear, lemon and green apple. Both are available in a limited edition of 6,000 numbered bottles for $64 a piece.
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