Scotch Whisky Review #349: Brora 37 Year (1977)

Distillery: Brora.

Region: Highland.

Age: 37 Year. Distilled in 1977. Bottled in 2015.

ABV: 50.4%

Cask Type: Refill American White Oak Hogsheads.

Cost: $90 for an 1 oz sample.

Color: 0.3, Pale Gold.

This is the 14th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.

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Nose: The first notes that come through are ones of tea. Distinct notes of floral and white tea specifically are the ones I noted. There’s a bit of a charcoal note, almost more of the slight charred bits from grilling with charcoal than anything else, which leads directly into the slightly maritime note that comes through. It’s a touch brine-y but also slightly meaty, the combination of which reminds me of charcoal grilled fish. Grilled lemon wraps things up.

Palate: Following along with the nose almost to a T comes notes of, well, tea. The floral and white tea notes that were so strong in the nose are first and center here. They’re followed by notes of charcoal grilled mixed seafood. A bit of wax comes through nicely giving this a wonderful mouthfeel. Grilled fruits in the form of lemons and pineapples wrap things up here.

Finish: Incredibly long. The grilled fruits are what linger the longest, particularly the grilled lemon. There’s a touch of mineral water as well, both which give a lovely cleansing effect on the palate and just make me want to go in for another sip.

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Conclusion: To wrap up a night of tasting dead and zombie distilleries, we had a vertical tasting of three Broras. The first of them was a 19 year old aged in sherry and the third of them was this 37 year old Diageo Special Release. Perhaps the best way to describe this whisky, as /u/KissMeElon put it, is to say it was heavily reminiscent of old Talisker but with a touch of wax added to the palate. This whisky carried tons of complexity and variety with notes of flora tea to a charcoal fueled seafood barbecue to a bit of fruit. The wax that pops in in the mouthfeel adds a fantastic additional element to this that really elevates this to the place of virtual perfection. Fantastic.

Final Score: 98.

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Scotch Whisky Review #349, Highland Review #69, Whisky Network Review #499

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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.