Ever since i got my hands on Octomore 6.1 in early 2017, I've been somewhat Obsessed with Bruichladdich, and how unique they are, even among the other major Islay distilleries. Their focus on supporting Islay, both the the island and it's people, is admirable, while also holding fast to their roots as a Victorian era distillery, and willingness to learn and explore.. Roughly 60% of my current whiskey collection is from Bruichladdich. I have 7 different Octomores, 3 Port Charlottes, 2 Valinch's, 6 minis from the LaddieMP series, a couple Feis Ile releases, a Black Art, and the discontinued "Rocks" bottling from 2013 as well as few others.. Yet there's still 1000 more I want to try... Blacker Still, Redder Still, Yellow Submarine WMD 2&3, X4, 4.2 Comus, etc, etc... And I cannot wait to eventually make my way to Islay and take every your they offer. I wish I knew *why* I love Bruichladdich, but it's honestly hard *not* to...
They certainly do a lot of experimental limited releases! Great to see them embracing the available variables and what can be done with them, and importantly letting us know what they've done to create that end product! I caught the Bruichladdich bug after visiting and it's now one of the best represented distilleries in my collection too 👍 Sounds like you have an enviable selection 😁🥃
Definitely - I'll be doing the warehouse tasting next time and setting more time aside as it was a bit rushed this time around. They're making some great stuff 🥃👍
Nice come back, Ben ! Great video again & congrats to you & to your half for the new Clarkson family member (R)Alfie (lol-sorry I had to do it 🤣), Cheers to the best yet to come for you !
Ben, this was a real nice overview of the Bruichladdich Distillery Tour. I see that you had Frazer as your tour guide. I met him during my 2017 trip to Islay when he was my guide for the Warehouse Experience. I have also seen and spoke with him at Bruichladdich during my more recent Islay visits. As you mentioned, the Bruichladdich Distillery Tour is a great value. For £5, you get the tour and the opportunity to sample several different expressions. In my opinion, Bruichladdich is the most generous on Islay in terms of their free sample pours 👍. As you noted, the open top mash tun is interesting since it is not used much anymore. The only other one that I have seen in person was at Deanston. Good that you found a ”leaker” in the warehouse to check out 😁. The Warehouse Experience is very nice and I have done it on each my Bruichladdich visits. It usually includes an older Bruichladdich, an older Port Charlotte and a special Octomore. Sometimes they also include a 4th cask. I will be doing it again in October. Cheers 🥃!
Haha it seems you've met all the tour guides on Islay! Frazer was a great guide 👍 We came to Bruichladdich straight after Kilchoman where we had to pay for each mini-sample. It was a stark contrast! You can tell which was more successful from how many bottles I bought at each 😜 I did find their attitude towards the open-top mash tun a little funny, verging on superstitious. I'll definitely be looking to do the warehouse experience next time, that 26 year old from a bourbon cask was excellent! Thanks Duane 🥃👍
I remember you saying how surprisingly great that tour was... and that Valinch 41 sounds delicious :D The Islay Barley 2011 was just released here, so going to be picking up a bottle.
Ah yeah I saw they've just released the latest Scottish barley range... and I've not even opened the previous Islay barley yet haha. We really enjoyed Bruichladdich - will be setting a day aside for it next time we get to Islay. That 26 year old from a bourbon barrel was stunning, definitely need to do the warehouse tasting too!
another great islay video. if they had a tourist board they should pay you to use these with the aqvavitae one in an online brochure. the historical ineptitude of whyte and mackay continues to plunge new depths lol. theres a parallel universe out there where they chose bruichladdich and closed jura - imagine a 40% octomore, drowned in fake tan, chill filtered to within an inch of its life being thrown around the walls of the laddie shop by richard paterson.
Haha I wish I could make a living of touring Scotland and doing these! Put it like that and I'm glad Whyte & Mackay chose to leave Bruichladdich alone 😜 sounds awful, don't forget the flimsily named NAS's everywhere Cheers Tomato Yoshi 🥃👍
Awesome Video!!! I didn't get to visit Bruichladdich on my tour... The next trip to Scotland, whenever it may be, will include this distillery! I have been looking over my Islay footage, and it pales compared to what you got, but my excuse is that I was on vacation... I will be editing my Islay advenures soonish!
Definitely worth a visit next time you're over there! Yeah it can be a bit distracting to keep the camera rolling whilst your going around but I quite enjoy doing it 😜 Look forward to seeing what you put together! Cheers foodquig 🥃👍
Yeah it caught us off guard, we should have set aside a whole day for Bruichladdich and done the warehouse tasting. We really enjoyed it and the guys were all really enthusiastic. Cheers Whisky Freedom, glad you enjoyed 🥃👍
I'm not that familiar with Octomores to be honest, I'm yet to find one that I thought was worth the asking price. You are probably more constrained by what is available than what is the best starting point! I will say that I've enjoyed the Port Charlotte MC:01/MRC:01 more than any of the Octomores I've tried though 🥃👍
One question Ben. I understood that PC is made from barley malted to 40 PPM and that Octomore is a separate process with a higher PPM. Did the distillery talk about the PC being a mixture of peated and unpeated? Not heard it before.
Yeah in the mill room they had the usual boxes of barley, 1 for Bruichladdich, 1 for Octomore and 1 in the middle for Port Charlotte. They explained that the Port Charlotte mash bill was just a combination of the unpeated and heavily peated barley. He did also mention that this could lead to some additional PPM discrepancies. Perhaps the special strains of barley are handled differently?
Ever since i got my hands on Octomore 6.1 in early 2017, I've been somewhat Obsessed with Bruichladdich, and how unique they are, even among the other major Islay distilleries. Their focus on supporting Islay, both the the island and it's people, is admirable, while also holding fast to their roots as a Victorian era distillery, and willingness to learn and explore.. Roughly 60% of my current whiskey collection is from Bruichladdich. I have 7 different Octomores, 3 Port Charlottes, 2 Valinch's, 6 minis from the LaddieMP series, a couple Feis Ile releases, a Black Art, and the discontinued "Rocks" bottling from 2013 as well as few others.. Yet there's still 1000 more I want to try... Blacker Still, Redder Still, Yellow Submarine WMD 2&3, X4, 4.2 Comus, etc, etc... And I cannot wait to eventually make my way to Islay and take every your they offer. I wish I knew *why* I love Bruichladdich, but it's honestly hard *not* to...
They certainly do a lot of experimental limited releases! Great to see them embracing the available variables and what can be done with them, and importantly letting us know what they've done to create that end product!
I caught the Bruichladdich bug after visiting and it's now one of the best represented distilleries in my collection too 👍 Sounds like you have an enviable selection 😁🥃
You’ve confirmed what I suspected - I need to visit & soon!!
Definitely - I'll be doing the warehouse tasting next time and setting more time aside as it was a bit rushed this time around. They're making some great stuff 🥃👍
Really glad we decided to pop in! Was definitely worth the value. Next time we can both do the warehouse demo!
Glad you put up with the little roads! 😜 Sounds like a great plan (swim back to Bowmore?) 🥃👍
@@WhiskyGeek the roads sucked! Would put Alphe to sleep though! Oh no maybe not swim back!
@@joannaclarkson6432 The waters were a little choppy ... you'll have to get the drivers pack I guess 😜
@@WhiskyGeek pffft you can get the drivers pack! I'm having whisky there!
Nice come back, Ben ! Great video again & congrats to you & to your half for the new Clarkson family member
(R)Alfie (lol-sorry I had to do it 🤣), Cheers to the best yet to come for you !
haha, hadn't thought about that! There was a baby next to us in the hospital called Ralphy 😜
Cheers Greg 🥃👍
Ben, this was a real nice overview of the Bruichladdich Distillery Tour. I see that you had Frazer as your tour guide. I met him during my 2017 trip to Islay when he was my guide for the Warehouse Experience. I have also seen and spoke with him at Bruichladdich during my more recent Islay visits.
As you mentioned, the Bruichladdich Distillery Tour is a great value. For £5, you get the tour and the opportunity to sample several different expressions. In my opinion, Bruichladdich is the most generous on Islay in terms of their free sample pours 👍. As you noted, the open top mash tun is interesting since it is not used much anymore. The only other one that I have seen in person was at Deanston. Good that you found a ”leaker” in the warehouse to check out 😁.
The Warehouse Experience is very nice and I have done it on each my Bruichladdich visits. It usually includes an older Bruichladdich, an older Port Charlotte and a special Octomore. Sometimes they also include a 4th cask. I will be doing it again in October. Cheers 🥃!
Haha it seems you've met all the tour guides on Islay! Frazer was a great guide 👍
We came to Bruichladdich straight after Kilchoman where we had to pay for each mini-sample. It was a stark contrast! You can tell which was more successful from how many bottles I bought at each 😜 I did find their attitude towards the open-top mash tun a little funny, verging on superstitious.
I'll definitely be looking to do the warehouse experience next time, that 26 year old from a bourbon cask was excellent!
Thanks Duane 🥃👍
I remember you saying how surprisingly great that tour was... and that Valinch 41 sounds delicious :D The Islay Barley 2011 was just released here, so going to be picking up a bottle.
Ah yeah I saw they've just released the latest Scottish barley range... and I've not even opened the previous Islay barley yet haha.
We really enjoyed Bruichladdich - will be setting a day aside for it next time we get to Islay. That 26 year old from a bourbon barrel was stunning, definitely need to do the warehouse tasting too!
another great islay video. if they had a tourist board they should pay you to use these with the aqvavitae one in an online brochure. the historical ineptitude of whyte and mackay continues to plunge new depths lol. theres a parallel universe out there where they chose bruichladdich and closed jura - imagine a 40% octomore, drowned in fake tan, chill filtered to within an inch of its life being thrown around the walls of the laddie shop by richard paterson.
Haha I wish I could make a living of touring Scotland and doing these!
Put it like that and I'm glad Whyte & Mackay chose to leave Bruichladdich alone 😜 sounds awful, don't forget the flimsily named NAS's everywhere
Cheers Tomato Yoshi 🥃👍
3:12 that’s a generous glass 😃👍🏼
Great video.
Thanks Adam 🥃👍
Awesome Video!!! I didn't get to visit Bruichladdich on my tour... The next trip to Scotland, whenever it may be, will include this distillery! I have been looking over my Islay footage, and it pales compared to what you got, but my excuse is that I was on vacation... I will be editing my Islay advenures soonish!
Definitely worth a visit next time you're over there! Yeah it can be a bit distracting to keep the camera rolling whilst your going around but I quite enjoy doing it 😜 Look forward to seeing what you put together!
Cheers foodquig 🥃👍
This makes me want to go again! The plan is September next year!
We can't wait to go back... I guess I need to come up with a plan too haha 😜
Awesome video Ben! Now i really wanna go to islay next time i am in Scotland
Thanks Per! It's definitely worth getting over to Islay if you can - incredible whiskies/distilleries and a great island to explore 😁👍
Oh looking forward to our visit.
It's a good one. Are you doing the warehouse tasting? Can see Deepa being in her element 😜
@@WhiskyGeek yes the warehouse tasting. I sent you and email to you youtube email.
Thanks for the prompter - I had forgotten to keep an eye on that email address 🤔
Thanks Ben. Enjoyed that.
Definitely my favourite tour on Islay. Great variety of whiskies, fantastic warehouse tasting and a brilliant team of hosts.
Yeah it caught us off guard, we should have set aside a whole day for Bruichladdich and done the warehouse tasting. We really enjoyed it and the guys were all really enthusiastic.
Cheers Whisky Freedom, glad you enjoyed 🥃👍
Great video! I'd love to go to Islay one day.
It's well worth the trip - we can't wait to get back there 😁🥃👍
very well done - you now have a new patreon supporter
Amazing, thanks Jason! 😁👍
So the most go for Bruichladdich people go for are the classic, the port charlotte, but then my question is what Octa should I actually start with
I'm not that familiar with Octomores to be honest, I'm yet to find one that I thought was worth the asking price. You are probably more constrained by what is available than what is the best starting point!
I will say that I've enjoyed the Port Charlotte MC:01/MRC:01 more than any of the Octomores I've tried though 🥃👍
Thanks for sharing, You never reviewed that Valinch, it sounds really great.....?
Yeah I've been saving it for something specific, and it's not been possible yet! Still really looking forward to it though 😁
Cheers Bjarke 🥃👍
@@WhiskyGeek sounds like a good excuse....;- )
One question Ben. I understood that PC is made from barley malted to 40 PPM and that Octomore is a separate process with a higher PPM. Did the distillery talk about the PC being a mixture of peated and unpeated? Not heard it before.
Yeah in the mill room they had the usual boxes of barley, 1 for Bruichladdich, 1 for Octomore and 1 in the middle for Port Charlotte. They explained that the Port Charlotte mash bill was just a combination of the unpeated and heavily peated barley. He did also mention that this could lead to some additional PPM discrepancies. Perhaps the special strains of barley are handled differently?