20/04/2023 Bruichladdich

Bruichladdich 12yo 1994/2007 (46%, Murray McDavid Limited Edition for the Isle of Colonsay, Bourbon Cask, C#MMCL2): nose: patina-covered polished wood, nutty apricots and apricot stones. And then it goes all metallic, with freshly-waxed car bonnets (for some reason, I see them green -- somewhere between #98CB76 and #518131; do not thank me, it is natural), clean engine grease, and new tools. This interplay between wood and steel, between dashboards and cylinder heads is certainly original! I do not remember coming across this so clearly before. It is remarkable how clean the steel is too. It is not a Japanese blade, yet it is not a dirty old engine either; more like newly-moulded engine parts that have not yet been assembled. After a while, a whiff of menthol passes by, as does darkish tobacco that sits in the same tin box as as dried strawberry slices. At a push, one may find discreet sea breeze. Thirty minutes in, the nose is hardly recognisable, with the emphasis now on the afore-mentioned sea breeze, and soft fruits as an afterthought. We still have wood wax, this time in a spray can, but much less wood, and virtually no steel. In its place, some leather. Mouth: it is a lot more robust than the tame nose suggested. There is enough wood to fill up a wheelbarrow, medium-dark tobacco, dried-strawberry shavings (those are now crystal clear), and menthol (fierce would be an exaggeration, but it is also not shy). It is wide and coating, despite a fairly thin texture, and certainly leaves no pore in the mouth untouched by what comes across as a polished slice of centuries-old oak trunk. The second sip seems oilier -- not in texture, but in taste: walnut oil, tobacco oil, teak oil, engine oil. It is also spicier, with ginger powder, and asafoetida, blended with amchoor, the latter imparting a cool fruitiness. There is a drop of brine, in there, somewhere, which gives a bitter freshness that could be linked to licking tin. Finish: assertive, coating, and full, this dishes out more wood (polished dashboards, nutwood), associated bitterness included, and fruits (dried apricots, apricot stones, oily walnuts, Brazil nuts). Further sips crank up the dried fruits (dried figs, dates, raspberries), bring back the oily dark tobacco, and introduce a lovely, fruity black tea (blueberry, raspberry, forest fruits). In the mid-to-long term, that fruit tea takes off and turns sweeter too. This is very pleasant indeed, but is it really a Bourbon-cask maturation? 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, dom666)