Tasting notes by Jim McEwan
Colour - Primrose Yellow.
Aromas - The Islay Maritime overture in harmony with the warm peat smoke drift leaves you in no doubt where this spirit was born and raised! The sweetness from the toasted barley works well with the mellowness of oak with just a hint of spice from the bourbon residue. A harmonious bouquet seeded with the sea air & the character of the men who made it in the traditional way.
Palate - Soft fruits created by the yeast during distillation over a decade ago emerge and together with malt extract and the sweetness of the toasted oak staves create a flavour that is unique to single cask bottling. No blending, no colouring, just the skills of the honest craftsmen, an Islay upbringing on the Atlantic seaboard and its that simple!
Enjoy your time with the character, passion & skill of Duncan McGillivray who made this spirit - A true Legend!!
Lochindaal 2009 13yo
As we all know no distillery is run by one pair of hands, it takes a team. This is no better illustrated by the passionate and small team who re opened Bruichladdich in 2001. From the board of passionate directors to the boots on the ground it was a team dedicated to the re-opening and success of the slumbering giant.
This teamwork is no better exemplified than in the friendship and comradery of two of the firmest friends Jim McEwan and Duncan McGillivray, two of the men there right from the start. This relationship helped re-build Bruichladdich from the ground up, re commissioning the decayed copper stills, fixing (indeed adding) roofs and making the heart of the distillery beat again. All this hard work and dedication getting ‘Cinderella ready for the ball’, after only five months Bruichladdich was ready to start distilling again. Jim and others would firmly put this success story down to the skill, passion and quiet brilliance of Duncan McGillivray.
The final word on this friendship should go to Jim ‘There are people who, when you meet them, you just know that something special, something unique, something great is about to begin. Only a few moments are enough…….. both of us afflicted with the same passion for whisky, the same love of Islay. The water of life rushed through our veins’.
Dramfool are honoured to be able to release the personal cask from this Bruichladdich legend, not just Duncan’s cask but Duncan’s cask of Lochindaal. We all know how rare and special this spirit is, only ever distilled twice.
This cask is the first cask filled from that final ever distillation. Whether Duncan knew that and wanted to preserve the spirit, the moment and the tradition or not we don’t know, we like to think so. What we can say is this cask represents the talents of Duncan McGillivray (and Jim), the whole team, the Bruichladdich passion and as cask number #1 signalled the beginning of the end for the truly rare spirit of Lochindaal. A dram never to be repeated!
As always bottled at natural cask strength of 60.8%, bottled un chill filtered and of course with no added colouring this spirit is as the distiller intended. Limited to just 195 bottles it is sure to be a popular one!
