Scotch Whisky Review #134: Bruichladdich Black Art 1992 Edition 05.1 24 Year

Distillery: Bruichladdich

Region: Islay

Price: Part of a flight

ABV: 48.4%

Age: 24 Year. Distilled in 1992, Bottled in 2016

Color: 1.4, Tawny. Non Chill Filtered and Natural Color.

This is the eleventh in my Countdown to Christmas series where I’ll be posting a review a day until Christmas. You can find the entire series here.

Nose: On the sweet end of things. There’s a lot of brown sugar accompanied by a very deep vanilla extract flavor, some cherries, and a warm red berry compote.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. It starts with a little bit oak forward with a bit of spice but it’s quickly over taken by two really great fruit notes. The first is a slightly mushy, caramelized banana made with brown sugar. The second is more of that warm red berry compote. The two play really, really well with one another to make for a lovely experience and make me want to find a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with this.

Finish: This finish is long as heck. That caramelized banana note lingers forever and is joined by a hint of leather, a hint of tobacco, and a trace bit of oak.

Conclusion: You see a black matte bottle with the name “Bruichladdich” on it. Of course, it’s a bottle of Black Art. This is the first of the series that I’ve had the pleasure to try and man it is an absolute treat of a dram. It’s a dessert medley from start to finish. The nose teases it a little bit with some brown sugar, vanilla, and fruit. The palate is absolutely full of warm, fruity desert delights. And they don’t go away after going down, those notes linger on your tongue for ages. Incredible dram by the new master distiller over at Bruichladdich. The only thing that could’ve made this better was if it was served with a heaping of vanilla ice cream on the side. That or if /u/b1uepenguin can get this made into an ice cream, I suppose, like this Octomore. Would I buy a bottle? It’s on the list of possibilities for when I’ve got money burning a hole in my pocket.

Final Score: 91.

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Scotch Whisky review #134, Islay Whisky Review #16, Whisky Network Review #177

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.