Country: Scotland
Region: Islay
Brand: Bruichladdich Rocks
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: 5-7 Years
ABV: 46 %
Date: 11/01/2014
Colour: Golden with a light Reddish glow.
Nose: Young, still a bit Edgy and not overly Complicated. A combination of Sweet Barley, slightly Sour Red Grapes, Brown Sugar, light Peat, Bread Dough and a Pinch of Salt. After a while I also find traces of Nuts, Strawberry, light Oak, light Pepper, Honey and a Floral Flagrance. A very different type of Bruichladdich. I must admit I don't like it a whole lot. I'm not really a Red Wine Finish fan though there are certain exceptions to the rule like the Longrow 11 Red Cabernet Sauvignon.
Taste: Slightly Thin delivery despite the ABV of 46%. Quite Spicy with Pepper and Cinnamon. I also find Oak, Cereals, Brown Sugar, Vanilla and Red Fruit, mainly Grapes and Berries.
Finish: Middle-Long with Cereals, Red Fruit (Strawberry), quite a bit of Pepper, light Licorice and a pinch of Salt.
With a bit of Water the Nose gets Extra Malt, Red Fruit and Honey. You get more Fruit on the Palate but it also becomes too thin. As usually I prefer to sip it neat. Unfortunately my sample wasn't sufficient to try out Rocks over Ice.
Rating: 81.5
Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20 - Overall: 20.5
General Remarks: The Bruichladdich distillery is located on the shore of Loch Indaal on the Rhinns of the isle of Islay. It was founded in 1881 by the Harvey Brothers and closed in 1994. In 2000 it was bought by a group of private investors (including Mark Reynier) and the whole distillery was dismantled and reassembled in 2001. It was sold in 2012 to Remy Cointreau.
Rocks was released in 2007 and later incorporated in a trilogy with Waves and the peated Peat. Waves, Peat and the earlier expressions Infinity and Links were phased out in the beginning of 2012. Late 2013, Rocks was the last of the series to be discontinued. Rocks is not Chill-Filtered, not artificially coloured and designed to be taken over Ice. Rocks matured for 5-7 years in Ex-Bourbon Casks selected by Master-Distiller Jim McEwan. These casks were then vatted and finally finished in French Red Wine (Syrah) Casks for an additional nine months or so. It was priced at between 40 and 50 US Dollars in late 2013.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good but not quite my style.
Conclusion: This is quite a different Bruichladdich. Only very light Peat and almost without any coastal influences. A little bit of Salt, that's all. Rocks is basically a combination of Cereals, Red Fruit (Grapes and Berries) and Spices (Pepper and Cinnamon). I don't find sufficient balance between these main flavour components. For sure this is not one of my favourite Bruichladdichs. But if you fancy this Flavour profile you should give it a go as Rocks may vanish from the Earth quite quickly!
Jan van den Ende January 2014
