Experiment // Deconstructing Bruichladdich’s Classic Laddie
Let me tell you something about Bruichladdich’s Belgian brand ambassador, Nick Baeyens. That guy knows how to bring ‘fun’ to an online tasting. When I attended a special ‘deconstruction session’ of the Bruichladdich’s Classic Laddie, he quickly pointed out that we were there to have fun and to throw around our own tasting notes, not to follow a recipe and try to ‘stay on course’. The result of that, is that I got really rather drunk while blending my own ‘Laddie’. And here’s why.
Text by Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
Photography is © Progressive Hebridean Distillers and © Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
The Age of Transparency
At the moment, Progressive Hebridean Distillers is promoting their ‘what if’ philosophy: What if you could ask virtually any question about the whisky that you’re drinking, and also get an answer to that question? Wouldn’t that be fantastic? I believe so, and so do the people at the distillery. That’s why they started their very own ‘Age of Transparency’:
“While many Scotch distillers aim for absolute consistency in their flagship bottle, we have stepped outside convention and tradition, to trace our ingredients from origin to bottling. Each component part, whether barley provenance, cask type or the passing of time, will subtly influence our final recipes.
Every recipe is broken down to give you as much information as we are legally allowed to give you. You have the right to know what’s in your glass, and to understand where that flavour comes from. Each batch, though subtly different, must demonstrate our classic floral and elegant Bruichladdich style.” - Bruichladdich.com
Now, if you’re thinking that this is simply ‘theoretical’ and ‘abstract’, you’re thinking wrong. On their website, you can enter the unique code that is found on your bottle of Classic Laddie, after which you get a complete list of the amount of casks, the barley origin, and the types of cask that are used in that specific batch.
As an example, I copied the information from their website for batch 19 / 199, bottled in 2019. This batch is made from 76 casks, 5 vintages, 3 barley types, and 8 cask types. There’s a plethora of information to be found, yet some of the ages of the casks are redacted. This is because legally, distillers are only allowed to give the age of the youngest whisky that was used. Therefore, some of the information has been ‘blacked out’, cold war-style. From the specific laws, we know that those casks are older than the others.
I suggest taking a look at their website if you own a bottle of Classic Laddie, and even if you don’t. Example codes are available on the website, and there’s even a spread sheet of the flavor profile of that specific batch, explaining how the variety of casks influences the overall tasting notes. Check out https://www.bruichladdich.com/philosophy/age-of-transparency/#enter-your-code for more information.
Classic Laddie - 8 Cask Components
For this specific tasting, Baeyens dropped off a collection of cask samples called “cask components”, all of which were used in a batch of Classic Laddie. We were instructed to taste them separately before ‘blending’ them together to create our own version of Classic Laddie. I honestly have to admit that tasting 8 cask samples (at cask strength) and blending my own Classic Laddie in less than 2 hours was a daunting task, and it made me very cheerful and pretty drunk. But I also can inform you that the online atmosphere was amazing and that all attendants really enjoyed that session.
Below, I’ll give an overview of the different components that we tasted. I’ll give a small facts list of the cask type, the cask number, the type of barley that was used, when the whisky was distilled and bottled, and finally how old that specific whisky is. Additionally, I’ll add some tasting impressions, for good measure. After all, that’s why you’re here, right?
Cask Component No. 1 (62% ABV)
Cask type: Sherry cask, Vatting into 2nd fill bourbon
Cask NO: 18/199-13
Barley: Optic
Distilled: 16.12.2009
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 9 years
This cask component is sweet and fruity, with plenty of red fruits in the mouth. There’s a certain dry element in the nose, reminding me of a dusty attic, while at the same time there’s waxed and oiled furniture. After a second sip, there’s more vanilla and brown sugar on the palate, and it’s all nice and warming. There’s a lingering element of dark chocolate and cherry as well. According to Nick Baeyens, this cask component is actually also matured in a sherry cask, although it doesn’t say so on the label.
Cask Component No. 2 (61.9% ABV)
Cask type: Bourbon cask, 2nd fill bourbon
Cask NO: 2592
Barley: Publican/Oxbridge
Distilled: 28.09.2010
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 9 years
This cask component comes across rather strong in the nose. There’s an undeniable chalk/cement note in there, but there’s also butter, grapes/raisins, cake (maybe even some bread pudding), and then a flow towards vanilla. There’s a honey-like texture, and flavors of baked goods, biscuits, and brown sugar.
Cask Component No. 3
Cask type: Wine cask, 1st fill Pomerol (Merlot & Cabernet Franc)
Cask NO: 2298
Barley: Oxbridge
Distilled: 29.06.2011
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 8 years
Another cask component that opens up with poster paint, and which is deeply vegetative. It’s malty on the hands. I was thinking ‘lava stone’ (pumice), but I honestly don’t know how I got to that. There’s blue cheese in there, and even smoke and ashes. It’s funky, tangy, even, and bitter. With a bit of water, it reveals salty liquorice.
Cask Component No. 4
Cask type: Wine cask, 2nd fill Bandol (Mourvèdre)
Cask NO: 3589
Barley: Optic/Oxbridge
Distilled: 12.10.2011
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 8 years
This cask component has a lovely floral note, going towards biscuits. It’s chewy, chocolate-y, with berries and caramel cream candy. The dram dries out nicely.
Cask Component No. 5 (58.6% ABV)
Cask type: Bourbon cask, 1st fill bourbon
Cask NO: 3500
Barley: Optic/Oxbridge
Distilled: 10.10.2011
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 8 years
This is another bourbon cask component which is more gentle in the nose, more floral, going towards a heavy perfume, even. It’s also very sweet, but sharper on the palate, a bit edgy, with more spices added to the ‘recipe’.
Cask Component No. 6 (63.4% ABV)
Cask type: Bourbon cask, 1st fill bourbon
Cask NO: 625
Barley: Appaloosa
Distilled: 09.03.2011
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 8 years
Compared to the other bourbon cask components, this one is lighter, a bit drier and sweeter even, and best described as ‘delicate in comparison’. There’s some green grapes in the nose as well. The flavors are a bit more ‘mellow’, with a nice warm heart at the center. The finish quickly dries at, and leaves you with the core of this expression up front on the palate and the throat.
Cask Component No. 7 (63.1% ABV)
Cask type: Bourbon cask, 1st fill bourbon
Cask NO: 4821
Barley: Concerto
Distilled: 03.12.2012
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 6 years
The same chalk/cement note can be found in this cask component as well, but then it turns more meaty, more BBQ. It’s also a bit more fruity, and I have the scent of burned paper in my nose. It’s nice and fatty in the mouth, with some candle wax, poster paint, and a lovely note of vegetative funk.
Cask Component No. 8 (64.% ABV)
Cask type: Wine cask, 2nd refill Paulliac (Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc, Merlot)
Cask NO: 2103
Barley: Concerto
Distilled: 25.06.2012
Bottled: 07.11.2019
Age: 7 years
This. Wow. How do I describe this? Well. There’s scents of dried vines, (un)lit - and burnt out matches, and rubber, brought together in a very ‘in your face’ way. Behind it, however, elements of biscuits and vanilla. Big mouth, but gentle heart. The sulfuric element makes you cower a bit, but if you sip from this dram, you discover a dry whisky with a bitter note at the end. Perfect as a ‘pick-me up’ if you’re a hairy biker, or if you want to try something that’s raw and rugged. I liked it.
Blendin’ away!
After we had tasted all cask components, we were urged to make our own blend. Because I didn’t feel like measuring out everything, and because I was VERY curious, I made a blend with equal parts of all the cask components, and then I added an extra measure of sherry.
The result was a dram in which component 8 was still very dominant, but it had a some influence of component 1 in it. Besides that, it was the type of whisky that would be served to people who want ‘something so incredibly strong it feels like someone punches you in the palate’. Perhaps not the kind of whisky to be had after a tasting of 8 cask strength drams.
I had created a veritable Classic Monster of Laddie-stein, beautiful in its ragged being. But I sense this won’t be my last experiment… We’ll meet again, Lad.