Bruichladdich 30 years old 1973 40.2% 1973

Distillery	Bruichladdich
Bottler	OB
Serie	-
Bottled for	-
Distilled date	1973
Bottling date	2003
Country	Scotland
Region	Islay
Age	30
Cask Type	American Oak cask & Refill sherry hogshead
Cask Number	-
Alcohol percentage	40.2
Volume	0,70
Condition	Perfect
Label	Perfect
Stock	0

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (87)

Tried this baby several times but never wrote proper tasting notes. Maybe this bottling lived in the shadow of the stunning 1970 that was bottled just a little earlier. Colour: full gold. Nose: now I remember why I used to like the 1970 so much better. The oak talks first here, not the fruits. Having said that, it’s complex whisky, with touches of metal (old tools), the usual melon (more as a liqueur here) and then many herbal teas, especially tannic ones. Chamomile first! And cinnamon. After ten minutes, some unexpected notes of manzanilla and fresh walnuts – yup I know this is bourbon wood. Mouth: it’s a little fragile. It’s very complex whisky but the structure is a little wobbly, if I may say so. A bitterness from the oak coats the whole (leafy feeling, chlorophyll). Touches of passion fruits, apples, lime blossom, a little eucalyptus, peaches, pink grapefruits, gooseberries… All nice but fragile. Finish: not the longest, as expected, and a notch green and papery. Comments: there are two sides in this whisky. The complexity is quite amazing but there’s little backbone despite an oakiness that’s very obvious. A controversial bottling right from day 1 if I remember well, I’ll go for a consensual score if you don’t mind.

BOW (90)