Bruichladdich – Laddie Origins Feis Ile 2021 (70cl, 56.3%)

Bruichladdich – Laddie Origins Feis Ile 2021 is a whisky from Bruichladdich (Islay). Bottled at 56.3% ABV, 70cl. Mothballed by previous owners Whyte & Mackay, Bruichladdich distillery was revived in the year 2000 by independent bottler Murray McDavid. For a long time the distillery was the black sheep of Islay, on account of producing unpeated whisky in order to meet its owner’s blending requirements. Contrary to general expectations though, this also made it a hit with the locals who were presumably sick of the sight of peat. Since its resurrection - and under the guiding hand of maestro Jim McEwan - Bruichladdich hasn’t shied away from experimentation in cask management, quadruple distillation, love-it-or-hate-it presentation, and the introduction of the heavily peated Port Charlotte and (REALLY heavily peated) Octomore ranges. Oh, and they make a mean gin too. Distilled at the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, this release was bottled and released online for the Feis Ile 2021 festival which once again was cancelled. Celebrating two decades of milestones for the distillery, it includes a variety of the their liquid firsts including triple distilled spirit and some of their oldest barley exploration spirits. Hand selected by Adam Hannett, this expression has been created using unpeated malt from 13 casks from 12 vintages, using six barley types and nine various cask types. Matured for an undisclosed length of time, there were just 3,000 individually numbered bottles produced at 56.3% abv. free from chill filtration and artificial colouring.