1991 Bruichladdich 27 Year Old “Faultline” K&L Exclusive Single Cask #2121 Cask Strength Islay Single Malt ~ Scotch Whisky News
A Long-Time K&L Favorite Comes Through in Strong Fashion
1991 Bruichladdich 27 Year Old “Faultline” K&L Exclusive Single Cask #2121 Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) ($189.99)
“This whisky is absolutely everything you want it to be and more!”
— David Othenin-Girard, K&L Spirits Buyer
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Jim McEwan and the Bruichladdich distillery essentially lit the engines on our single cask program back in 2012. We’ve long enjoyed this partnership, and this spectacular 27-year-old bottling of the Faultline label is just the latest fruit from that still-growing tree. While most very old, labeled Bruichladdich on the market today will have spent time in a wine barrel and set you back as much as four figures, this beauty is pure, no-frills Islay in a standard hogshead. While it’s not peated, it still displays the hallmark salinity of Islay along with wonderful herbal, grassy notes and a touch of nutty complexity. The palate is loaded with viscosity to carry the honey, floral, and citrus tones through the long finish. Fans of very old Scotch whisky will certainly thrill at both the profile and price of this exclusive cask, and for less than four figures, let alone for less than $200, you’re unlikely to find as compelling a bottle of dram as this for a long, long time.
The Bruichladdich Distillery and K&L have had a long history together. Our store was one of the first to champion the mission of this special distillery after a group of private investors refurbished and reopened the facility on the banks of Lochindaal in the early 2000s. It was also the first place we went to find casks way back in 2012. In fact, it was the illustrious Jim McEwan, distillery manager at the time, who sold us our first cask of Faultline Single Malt. That was our Littlemill 21 year which sold for a cool $120 back then. Now, of course, Jim has left Bruichladdich and they’re not in the single cask game any longer, but our Faultline brand of single malts persists. What’s most unusual about this cask is that the distillery was not able to secure access to the casks in this lot, because if they had, we’d have seen them finished in wine casks and sold for many multiples of this price. There must have been some personal or political reasons why the owners chose to avoid selling the lot back to the current owner. There is almost no pre-sale, independently bottled Bruichladdich available. It’s simply too valuable to the distillery. We don’t often get opportunities to bottle under the Faultline name because we reserve it for whiskies we believe offer unprecedented value and quality. This single hogshead has all the hallmarks of the wonderfully idiosyncratic spirit from this excellent distillery. Unpeated, but so distinctly Islay, a bottle of pure Islay just for us.
David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: May 27, 2020
I’m honestly surprised that we were able to snag this cask considering the hype around the Bruichladdich distillery these days. The owners have plenty of cash to grab old stocks from private sellers and even though this is just a plain old hogshead, a few years finished in some goofy wine cask and you’ve got the next 30 Year Rare Release for over $1000! So by some great luck we stumbled upon these stocks, three casks from the 1991 vintage, two of which were close to 80 proof already. Both of those were lovely but lacked the power and tension of this special cask. And Jim McEwan would kill me for telling you to add water to a Laddie this old, but it’s just a whisper out at first out of the bottle. A few (six to be precise) drops later and we’ve unlocked totally the treasure. The nose is a ton of marzipan being pulverized on a rock beach in a storm. Certainly no hint of smoke a but a linear salinity that’s so inviting. Wild grass drying in the summer sun. On the palate ultra complex with tons of salted grains, chewy and viscous. Powerful pepper, wild flower honey and candied lemon peel. Long, textural and satisfying on the finish. This whisky is absolutely everything you want it to be and more! Just DON’T skip a few drops of water on this one.
