Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013 Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

From its modern revival in 2000, Bruichladdich has built an identity around a grain-driven whisky, rather than a maturation-driven whisky. That isn’t to say maturation isn’t important to Bruichladdich; it’s important to any whisky that isn’t on the market as some version of moonshine. But this brand doesn’t old and ultra-aged whiskies. Their neighbors at Lagavulin have a 16 year old as their signature expression, while Bruichladdich tends to peak around a decade. This is a distillery that wants maturation to develop the flavors of their new make, rather than have maturation become those flavors.

It’s a key distinction. That goes a long way to explaining their Octomore line, which consists of the most heavily peated whiskies around. It’s not just waving a flag at the smokeheads out there. Long maturation moderates peat.

Bere barley is a strain of that grain which Bruichladdich has been working with academics to revive and bring back to the industry since 2005. With its specialized grain type, this was made unpeated. The 2013 in the name is the date of distillation, and it was matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and second-fill Pauillac wine casks, and bottled at 50% ABV.

The Scotch
This pour is pale straw colored, so pale that it is almost translucent. The nose smacked of an oily tropical fruit extract paired with the creamy vanilla one gets in the soda, with a sliver of dry oak.

Sipping on this whisky is a genuine, not-guilty pleasure, and those who beg sophistication to age will be surprised by how it got this way after just a decade (because a decade is still rather young in Scotch terms). That current of non-descript tropical fruit is still leading, but now it’s holding hands with cinnamon and brown sugar oatmeal. As I keep sipping on it, the fruit flavors evolve into dried apricot and pineapple, and hints of vanilla and coconut rise up. The finish delivers a light touch of dry, mildly spicy oak.

The Price
The MSRP for this whisky is $140.