Bruichladdich Islay Single Malt: Rocks

A while back my wife gave me a sampler pack of scotch as a graduation present. I love scotch, but have not tasted many brands. I have attended a sole scotch tasting event almost 2 years ago and as I consumed much scotch that night, I do not remember what they all tasted like not to mention which ones I had tasted! Nonetheless, this sampler pack had three small bottles of Bruichladdich Islay Single Malt scotches in it. Each bottle had probably about one-and-a-half ounces of scotch. The package contained: Links, Waves, and Rocks. The one I sampled today was the 'Rocks' style, which was in keeping with the 'Scottish golf' theme the sampler had.

Buichladdich Rocks Scotch

The Bruichladdich Islay Single Malt scotch 'Rocks' is a smooth scotch. It has a light peaty taste and a slow, velvety warmth to it. I prefer to add a touch of water to my scotch as it is claimed that this opens up the flavor; without the water it may be slightly more peaty and coarse, but likely by not much. I would rate this scotch as better than a Glenfiddich and on par with a good 10 year Highland Park. The 'Rocks' scotch runs about $50 dollars at a liquor store in Alberta.

Brucihladdich distillery on the Rinns of Islay, Scotland.

The Bruichladdich website lists numerous types of scotches that they produce. On this website is also a list of webcams that stream live footage of their distillery; as they wrote "We are proud of our historic yet efficient distilling equipment still in use today. Here you will see the comings and goings of a working distillery from barley to bottle. We have nothing to hide", which is in keeping with how they are also producing 'organic' scotches. The distillery is one of the older, independent scotch distilleries in Scotland. Located on the Rinns of Islay, the distillery was built in 1881. To this day, much of the equipment used to produce their scotch is from the original facility, which they claim produces the distinctive and clean tastes in their scotches. Their scotch is made from locally grown barely. Peat is also used in some of their scotch brands, such as the Octomore that is the 'most heavily peated Single Malt Whisky in the world at 80, 130, and 141 ppm!


Sources:
http://www.bruichladdich.com/web_cam.htm
http://www.bruichladdich.com/trade/octomore_sellsheet.pdf