garbanzobean Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 I should start this thread with an admission: My journey to develop my whisk(e)y tasting palate really started when my wife gave me an unexpected gift of Bruichladdich 1973 for my 30th birthday. I decided I wasn't experienced enough to really enjoy it, so I started purchasing whisk(e)y of all types to "ready" myself for it. I was a bit of a dabbler prior to that, but had nothing like the focus on the hobby that I do now. Onto the primary topic:I was reading through old threads, and I noticed that the thread announcing Bruichladdich had been sold off was a couple years old. Since then, I haven't seen much Bruichladdich in the "what did you purchase" or "what are you drinking" threads. I've very much enjoyed the Bruichladdich expressions I've had. The Laddie 10 is a recent favorite of mine, and is still available locally for about $50. The Laddie 16 is available for around $100. I've got a Bruichladdich 1973 waiting for a special occasion (and 2-3 more on the shelves at a local store if I decide I can't live without it) The 10 and 16 are now distillery only bottlings, at least for the time being. There are a number of other discontinued and one-off bottlings hanging around my area, but that is normal for where I live. Scotch just doesn't sell as well as bourbon, especially not the limited editions. Getting back to the subject at hand, Bruichladdich has made a significant "juke" in strategy in the past year. The age stated Port Charlotte, Laddies, and Octomore (the 10 was intended to be a regular release prior to being universally panned by critics, and the wine finish variations appear to be travel retail only now) are no more in the U.S. Instead we are learning all about organic barley, provenance, and terroir (absolutely none of which I'm interested in trying). While Bruichladdich has always been experimental, the new NAS replacements for previously planned age stated products seem to have been met with relatively lukewarm reception overall (the first few seemed well-regarded, at least). I haven't had a chance to sample any of them (and their Facebook account seems to mostly repost pictures of older bottlings that folk from around the world happen to be enjoying), but it seems rather conspicuous how quickly Bruichladdich dropped off the radar. What do you all think? Am I being too hard on them? Are they still releasing knock out products? Regardless, I wish Bruichladdich the utmost success. The fine folks there took a neglected distillery and have really used it to help breathe life into the Islay economy. I just hope my interests align with theirs again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 ... but it seems rather conspicuous how quickly Bruichladdich dropped off the radar. What do you all think? Am I being too hard on them? Are they still releasing knock out products?Tends to happen when independent (craft?) outfit get bought out by multinationals.Although they released some "interesting" stuff during the Reynier/McEwan years, many people would argue none were "knock out products".Independents tend to get more love from the geeks (myself included) than they warrant (see Balcones discussion and similar will happen to Forty Creek when John Hall departs from the scene). Once the driving force/face drops off the map the company ceases to be sexy and becomes just another mass producer.The difficulty with Bruichladdich is that they have not been a "mass producer" over the last 10 years and so may not have enough matured product to satisfy the vast distribution channels offered by a multinational corporation ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted October 25, 2014 Author Share Posted October 25, 2014 Well, I understand that there were a lot of mediocre barrels used to age the stuff prior to McEwan and Reynier taking over. But ignoring those and the regular cherry picking of older barrels that happens, they had some drams I though of as knock out at least. Laddie 10, Port Charlotte PC series (PC6 and 7), and the octomores I've had (4.1 and 5.1) were all what I would consider to be up there for what they are/were. Even the non-CS Port Charlotte seemed like it would be outstanding once they found the right age for it. At any rate, I guess this thread was also meant as a sort of an unofficial poll of who's still buying Bruichladdich products regularly at SB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 I'm a Bruichladdich fan. The PC releases have been excellent as has the Laddie 10. I'm disappointed over the disappearance of age statements. I'm still interested to see what comes in the future with the hope of few gimmicky releases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soonami Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Honestly, this is what I expect as small independent producers continue to sell out or bought out. The new corporate overlord comes in and uses the branding and image of the smaller company to make some quick $$ before they destroy the brand and move on to something else. This is happening in beverages (craft beer and whiskey, Scotch), food, clothing brands, etc. It's the WalMart-ization of consumer products and it sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Honestly, this is what I expect as small independent producers continue to sell out or bought out. The new corporate overlord comes in and uses the branding and image of the smaller company to make some quick $$ before they destroy the brand and move on to something else. This is happening in beverages (craft beer and whiskey, Scotch), food, clothing brands, etc. It's the WalMart-ization of consumer products and it sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutton Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 They had a stash of whisky, some of which had some issues - they polished that up with various finishes with good to great success which gave them working capital as they re-started and began to build new stock.Is it possible that they've burned through the older stocks quicker than even they suspected, where even the newer brands (Port Charlotte/Octomore) aren't enough to fill the void until the new stocks come online? I agree they need to work on their brand as I'm not sure which direction they intend to go. I don't think this is about the takeover as it is possibly getting more success quicker than they thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Mike Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Wow, I guess I haven't really been paying attention to Bruichladdich for the past year, I didn't realize the 10 year had been relegated to a distillery-only bottling. I guess it shouldn't be a big surprise though, looking back at a Bruichladdich piece in the New Yorker from early 2013, the reintroduction of the 10 year had been a huge milestone for Mark Reynier but Simon Coughlin, his replacement after the sale to Remy called it a distraction from the companies true strength, and said there would be less emphasis on age and more emphasis on barley. The wine finishes going away wasn't unexpected; that was certainly driven by Reynier's connections with the wine industry.I tasted the 16 year Chateau Margaux when I was on Islay in the spring of 2012 and bought a mini from the Links series at the distillery, both of which were very good. I was a little underwhelmed by the Organic when it was first released and haven't tried it since. I tried the 2006 Bere Barley at a whisky bar in Montreal back in the spring and found it quite enjoyable.It will be interesting to see what direction the distillery takes going forward. I'm a little more tolerant of NAS bottlings from a distillery that is fighting for its life and trying to get past an 8 year period of non production than I am from a distillery with big corporate backers who are trying to stretch inventory while rapidly expanding distribution.I'm still sitting on a bottle of 33 year Bruichladdich Legacy that I bought shortly after my trip to Scotland. I'm not sure if I'm going to wait for a special occasion of just crack it open on a whim some night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) I think another reason Bruichladdich has tapered off their wine cask finishes is that they seem to have burned through most of the old Bruichladdich stock. It was pretty well known that a lot of the stuff they inherited with the distillery had issues (neglect, poor casks, etc), so I think their wine casks were a way to try to smooth that out a bit. As far as I'm aware, the only part of the Bruichladdich lineup still doing this is the wine cask aged/finished Octomore series, and they are all travel retail now. I'm mostly posting in this thread again because I noticed the following link on Bruichladdich's FB page: http://www.bruichladdich.com/the-whisky/bruichladdich/micro-provenance-cask-126a002Micro provenance. Micro climate. DNA stock. So much wow. Edited November 6, 2014 by garbanzobean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I think another reason Bruichladdich has tapered off their wine cask finishes is that they seem to have burned through most of the old Bruichladdich stock. It was pretty well known that a lot of the stuff they inherited with the distillery had issues (neglect, poor casks, etc), so I think their wine casks were a way to try to smooth that out a bit. As far as I'm aware, the only part of the Bruichladdich lineup still doing this is the wine cask aged/finished Octomore series, and they are all travel retail now. I'm mostly posting in this thread again because I noticed the following link on Bruichladdich's FB page: http://www.bruichladdich.com/the-whisky/bruichladdich/micro-provenance-cask-126a002Micro provenance. Micro climate. DNA stock. So much wow.They do seem to be laying it on a bit thick! Didn't see the price but likely isn't going to be in my price range even if I wanted to get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 They do seem to be laying it on a bit thick! Didn't see the price but likely isn't going to be in my price range even if I wanted to get one.The price is 208 british pounds ex VAT, or about $330. If you really want an old Bruichladdich, I happen to know where a bottle of the 1973-2003 is hiding out . . . Besides the one in my basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 The price is 208 british pounds ex VAT, or about $330. If you really want an old Bruichladdich, I happen to know where a bottle of the 1973-2003 is hiding out . . . Besides the one in my basement.Thanks but I will pass. Not really looking for any Bruichladdich at the moment, old or new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Mike Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'm not looking for one, but I'm curious how much you paid for the 1973-2003?I spent $200 on the 33 year Legacy bottling back in mid 2012. At the time some of the other Legacy bottlings were selling for twice that on eBay. I considered flipping it, but eBay stopped liquor sales not too long after that. Looking back, I'm pretty happy about that; I'm better off drinking it than profiting from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'm not looking for one, but I'm curious how much you paid for the 1973-2003?I spent $200 on the 33 year Legacy bottling back in mid 2012. At the time some of the other Legacy bottlings were selling for twice that on eBay. I considered flipping it, but eBay stopped liquor sales not too long after that. Looking back, I'm pretty happy about that; I'm better off drinking it than profiting from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Mike Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 (edited) I didn't spend anything, but my lovely wife paid $285. It was for my 30th birthday, and she let me pick anything that cost up to $300. At the time I was unaware of online liquor sales, but that's probably for the best. At any rate, I knew I liked Islays, so I went with this because whisky advocate rated it highly. I didn't know at the time it was basically unpeated (not that it bothers me now), but when I found out I decided I should probably start trying other unpeated scotch whiskies in earnest before I cracked that beast open.Since then, I've easily sampled well over a hundred scotch whiskies, and feel like I have a solid appreciation for every region I'm interested in (sorry lowland . . . you just don't sound good). So now I'm just waiting for a special occasion. Perhaps my 32nd birthday next year?The whisky-online website does a great job of detailing how the character of the whisky coming from Scotland's single malt distilleries has changed over the last 50 to 60 years as they have modernized and adjusted their production methods. http://www.whiskyonline-shop.com/bruichladdich-whisky-distillery.html# (click "read more" to expand it).The 33 year Legacy 5 that I have was bottled in 2006, but I've read that it's a vatting of whisky from 1972 and 1968. So the one you have is basically from the same era. Too bad you don't live nearby, it would be fun to taste them side by side. Edited November 9, 2014 by fishnbowljoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Since then, I've easily sampled well over a hundred scotch whiskies, and feel like I have a solid appreciation for every region I'm interested in (sorry lowland . . . you just don't sound good). This sounds a lot like you have never experienced the joy of Rosebank! But don't dawdle as the distillery was closed in 1993 and torn down in 2002. The stills were kept and according to wiki they reportedly were going to be installed in a new location but were stolen by metal thieves.Admittedly in my book it is just barely a lowland whisky being near the north edge of what is considered the lowlands. But whatever it was it was damned good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 This sounds a lot like you have never experienced the joy of Rosebank! But don't dawdle as the distillery was closed in 1993 and torn down in 2002. The stills were kept and according to wiki they reportedly were going to be installed in a new location but were stolen by metal thieves.Admittedly in my book it is just barely a lowland whisky being near the north edge of what is considered the lowlands. But whatever it was it was damned good!Shh... These are not the drams you are looking for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Shh... These are not the drams you are looking for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Probably deserves a new thread but since there are no details I'll post here for now.Mark Reynier (one of the principals that resurrected Bruichladdich) has posted on twitter that he bought a new distillery.more details coming on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 Probably deserves a new thread but since there are no details I'll post here for now.Mark Reynier (one of the principals that resurrected Bruichladdich) has posted on twitter that he bought a new distillery.more details coming on Monday.The early favorite in the rumor department appears to be Bladnoch. Seems plausible, though I'm sure there are dozens of distilleries for sale at any given time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 The early favorite in the rumor department appears to be Bladnoch. Seems plausible, though I'm sure there are dozens of distilleries for sale at any given time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 I hope so. Bladnoch deserves another chance.Alas, it turns out that Bladnoch was sold to the Vatika Group already. Vatika is some kind of construction and real estate group, so that's weird. Anyway, it looks like Reynier's new distillery will be a startup. And it appears to not be in Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Alas, it turns out that Bladnoch was sold to the Vatika Group already. Vatika is some kind of construction and real estate group, so that's weird. Anyway, it looks like Reynier's new distillery will be a startup. And it appears to not be in Scotland.Also, Bladnoch had severe production restrictions while in operation by the Armstrong brothers.When Diageo sold them the distillery it was a real estate play but allowed for small production (IIRC ~200,000 liters per year). Those production restrictions would not have been palatable for long-term investment by Reynier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Mike Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Looks like he bought the closed Guinness brewery in Waterford Ireland and will turn it into a distillery. Let's hope Diageo isn't involved in any way other than selling him the real estate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n811 Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Let's hope Diageo isn't involved in any way other than selling him the real estate.Hopefully they'll keep their colorant and chill filtration equipment away!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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