Bruichladdich LaddieMP4

As you may know I selected my blogger name to honor the Bruichladdich Distillery.

I missed out on the LaddieMP1 and Laddie MP2, but last year I was lucky enough to get my hands on a LaddieMP3 set.

This year I have been waiting for the mail by the Bruichladdich Distillery that informs people about the availability of the sets. So on the 17th of August 2016 the LaddieMP4 was announced.

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

We are about to embark on an exciting new chapter of our Micro-Provenance digital tasting programme.

Adam has selected three single casks for #LaddieMP4; you'll be able to join him online as he conducts a video tasting live from the distillery.

The release will be entirely in sets of three beautiful 20cl ‘Wee Laddie’ bottles – at an extremely attractive price point of £50 per set, plus postage and packing.

Minutes after reading the mail I placed my order, but for what? What had Adam Hannett selected this time?

Contrary to the blind tastings of the previous expressions the website now has some details on the three drams. Only 860 sets will be available.

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

• Cask #361 - distilled in 2008 and matured full term in a French ex-Syrah (red wine) cask.  It is at 58% alc. vol.
• Cask #16-062 - distilled in 2006 and matured in ex-bourbon before being finished in an ex-sherry cask is also at 58% alc. vol.
• Cask #1062 - distilled in 2005 and matured full term in bourbon is at 59% alc. vol.

I am particularly interrested in the ex-Syrah, since that grape is one of my favorite grapes for red wine!

This facebook video link shows the emptying of cask #16-062.

This facebook video link shows the bottling.

This facebook video link shows the packaging of the bottles.

Photo by +Bruichladdich Distillery 

Photo by +Bruichladdich Distillery 

Some video's from the Bruichladdich youtube site:

I will be on Islay on the time when the Bruichladdich Distillery will air the YouTube Webcast. I hope to be in the shop at that same time, so who knows, you may see my friend and me then.

My bottles are in!

instagram: iromby

Instagram: iromby

Instagram : iromby 

There is a bit of a spoiler alert with the printed labels on the bottles, but I'm sure the reason behind this will become clear at the tasting October 13th.

Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01

Yesterday's dram was a Bruichladdich Dram that I think is my personal favorite when it comes to the classic laddies and even for all Whiskies.

This dram is the reason why I call myself "iLaddie". The "laddie" is obviously from this dram, the "i" is from my Apple appreciation. So my choice of blogging name is in honor of these two but mostly to honor Bruichladdich.

The photos below are made by me.

Why do I like this dram and its siblings? 

I love the fruity nose. The mellow smooth influence of this blended single malt dram that is made from a combination of ex bourbon matured casks but also ex Sherry etc. you can see the recipe on this page when you give in a bottle number. Try 14/009 or see this blog entry  three recipes of classic laddie compared or bruichladdich classic laddie rotations

This combination of casks and barley malts gives this dram a wonderfull balance and complexity which I like. The 50% ABV of the Classic Laddie lets you play with the water you add yourself so you can find your sweet spot. When you add water the oils in this dram come out of the alcohol solution and give a wonderful mouthfeel. This is not a peated dram from islay, but it is my favorite dram from islay when it comes to a every day drinking dram. I have enjoyed it in all four seasons now and I cannot find a time when I would not be able to enjoy this dram. 

A Laphroaig 10yo to warm me up?

Today I went for a rather long bicycle ride with my 6 yo son! It's around freezing point here in the Netherlands so it was brisk to say the least! 

Ones home the little dude is happy to sit at his WII U Lego game, which gives me the time to enjoy a wee dram to warm me up! 

Standing in front of my "non-Bruichladdich" part of the cupboard I was thinking and debating which dram to have!

It was definitely not going to be the Akashi White Oak! That was a mistake to buy but you only find out what you don't like by trying. 

So the Aberlour then? It's warming yes, but more a dram for later at night! 

So maybe the Ardbeg 10? The Talisker Storm? Nope I choose the Laphroaig 10yo to warm me up! 

So while the kids watch Dora and play on the WII U, dad gets to put his feet up and nip on his dram! While at the same time writing this blog! 

So does it warm me up? Well that's where it gets weird! I do enjoy the Laphroaig 10yo a lot but somehow it's not bringing me the warmth I was looking  for. Yes there is peat! Yes there is a peppery note for sure but ones swallowed it doesn't quite warm me inside as I would have hoped! 

Can this be the "only" 40% vol that just doesn't give the warning effect? Maybe! Can I be that the room I'm in is cold? Plausible! Most probably it's the combination and these facts and that my 3yo daughter keeps pressing her cold hands in my face and that bear of hers! 

So now I have finished my dram, this blog is about to end with an observation. If you want to get warm with a dram, don't have cold bears around! 

Now that if had my dram and I'm correcting spelling errors I do feel some warmth from within but not the rush of warmth I was hoping for. So next time I want to warm up with a dram I will select another of my bottles and see how those do! 

This only shows that the only way to learn about whisky is by experience! To quote Adam Hannett:"interesting!".

 

Hunting for Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01

The For some time now I have been checking out Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01. I cannot precisely say why this dram is getting my attention but it does. For me it seems to represent the "Bruichladdich" style as much as anything even more as the "resurrection dram" version.

I bought the resurrection dram some time ago, but I'm reluctant to start drinking it, since it set me back a cool €171!

The edition_01 is not as highly priced as the resurrection version so I would feel less reluctant about actually opening the bottle and having a dram. 

Question? If I'm not investing in whisky, why should I keep myself from tasting the resurrection dram? Why am I reluctantly waiting? Do I need to get past a point? Thought?

Anyways, let's see what I would need to pay for a bottle of edition_01 at the regular sites I check out.

• Drank.nl : € Not Available 
• Drankgigant.nl : € Not Available 
• Drankdozijn.nl : € 79,50
• Mitra.nl : € Not Available 
• Gall.nl : € Not Available 
• Bestofwhisky.com : € Not available 
• onlinewhiskybestellen.nl : € Not available
• Whisky-on-line.com : € Not available 
• passievoorwhisky.nl : € Not available
• Masterofmalt.com : € Not available
• Vooreenmooiglas.nl: € Not available 

This dram seems to be hard to come by! Question to you all. Should I get it?

I think I should if I ever want to get my hands on a bottle! I ordered it at the only place that had one bottle still available. It should be delivered on Tuesday the 19th of January. I look forward to having a wee dram out of this bottle! 

The bottle was delivered! 

It's standing proudly next to his brother on in the Bruichladdich section of my cupboard! 

I opened it up and poured myself a wee dram! It's wonderful! Too early for tasting notes, but this is a dram I like! 

Preparing a trip to Islay, Scotland

I want to visit Islay, Scotland, with my wife!

This blog entry will be my notebook on how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, what to see, etc. 

Useful link I got from people on Twitter: http://www.islayinfo.com/travel.html

How to get there

By plane, Schiphol to Glasgow then on to islay airport. The only way to get to islay seems to be flighing in from either Oban or Glasgow. So Glasgow it is! The air service from islay to Oban is not flying to Glasgow as far as I can see, but I was not intending to go to Oban anyways. Well not on this trip I am not. 

Just for fun I tried looking up what a trip in the beginning of March would cost. Turns out the costs are not to bad! For about € 250 per person we can make the  trip! The prices are dependent on for when you book and how much time in advance. I will do some further checking on Flybe.com to see if I can find a most cost effective connection. 

Update 16/08/2016:

Turns out that I got myself a round way ticket for €54,-. I had saved up so many frequent flyer miles that the only things I'm paying now are taxes. Normally I would have payed around €150,-

Ones on/in Islay we we need to get around. The options would be to arrange transport by taxi, public bus, rental car or an organised touring company. 

Two car renstal are available on islay. Both Islay car rental companies offer pick up at airport, islaycarhire.com & carhireonislay.co.uk I won't be considering this option because of two reasons. One is left hand driving and the other is finding a designated driver. The extra costs are also a reason for choosing another option.

Since my higher education I have always traveled by public transport and since all the distilleries are all located near a bus stop I choose to take the public transport option. If need be I will get a taxi. 

Public transport is available and a timetable can be found here: Timetable

The photo below indicates the routes available on islay for public bus transport.

Update 16/08/2016:

After figuring out all the ferry sailing times I found out that, in my case, none really connect back well enough to allow me comfortable travel to and from Islay without not making the ferry or the flight back using the bus. Also the connecting bus to kennacraig departs from mid city Glasgow and this adds to travel time. 

So in the end we decided to get a rental car and this allows us to comfortably make crossings in time. I found out that my employer has a discount arrangement with Hertz which is saving 10-20%.

Update: 18/08/2016

I learned that booking the ferry works like this if you want a spot on the ferry. If you can book it, then its available. So, if you can select a time on the booking site of the ferry, it means that the ferry was not full at the moment you are booking. If it doesn't show up in the booking options while booking that ferry is full! At the end of the online booking session you get a two page pdf confirmation via email.

Where to stay

For accommodation I was adviced to check out multiple options by contacts on Twitter. 

Right next to Bruichladdich distillery is An Taigh Osda bed and breakfast. Great views and excellent food. For max of £80 per person per night. 

The ballygrant inn is good and price is ok and easy enough to get to Bruichladdich.

On the other side of the loch is The Bowmore House (about €114 per night) which is centrally located on the Island and would make excellent starting point for visits to both Bruichladdich on one side and Ardbeg / Lagavulin / Laphroaig / Caol Ila on the other side

Update 16/08/2016:

Here the date of booking really limited our options for finding an accommodation. My advice in retrospect is to BOOK EARLIER!!! Lol! Now we ended up in the hotel of one of the most popular pubs on Islay! The horror!! And that for €80,- pppn. The Lochside hotel in Bowmore is our home for three nights.

Where to eat?

I like to taste the local kitchen. Since Islay is obviously an island seafood would be on the menu. Filtering this on trip advisor I got this listing. 

Summering the estimated costs:
Flight : €251 (Amsterdam-Glasgow-Islay round trip)
Bed and Breakfast : €114 per night
Transport by bus on islay : €10 max per day
Diner : max €50 per person per day
Tour at Bruichladdich: €33,55 for the wearhouse experience
Bottle of valinch: £ 75,-

So in total a trip would cost about €618,- 

Update 16/08/2016:

- ticket : €55,-

- rental car : €150 (cost of €300 split by two)

- ferry : € 37,50 (cost of 65 split by two)

- Diner : max €50 per person per day
- Tour at Bruichladdich: €33,55 for the wearhouse experience
- Bottle of valinch: £ 75,-

- hotel : €80,- per night

Total cost for three nights will be about €650,- increased with cost for additional tours.

Personally I think it would be well worth the trip since this idea has become something of a "bucket-list" goal in my life. Why that is is not for this blog, but I believe more and more that delaying the opportunity  to life now is not a wise thing to do. You may not be around to live a dream. So don't delay what you can do now!

I have been talking to Matt Goodwin! He spend Some days on Islay and was kind enough to give me some advice. Please look at his trip on YouTube: 

http://youtu.be/yzeuOl4PaBU

Thank you Armin of Islay Blog for the answers to many questions!! Check out http://www.islayblog.com/ for his blog! 

Whisky Flavor Maps and charts

I have been reading up on what flavors are available to be found in whisky. Seems there are loads of charts to be found.

One chart I like is the one made by Dave Broom, author of the atlas of world whisky. I can not put his chart up in this blog since he has the copywrite of it and you will just have to buy his iBook or Book online.

Another chart which I like a lot can be found on the page http://whiskyanalysis.com/

There is highly detailed information there to be found and it uses the information already available in studies and puts it in a flavor map.

The chart is based on the Wishart information whisky data set derived from his first book. Some statistics analysis methods and software were used to make the charts found below. I tried to reproduce the chart, but found I needed to become a theoretical statistics expert to do so. You can use these links if you want to give it a go yourself: 

- Http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2013/12/k-means-clustering-86-single-malt-scotch-whiskies.html

-  http://joelcadwell.blogspot.nl/2014/07/using-biplots-to-map-cluster-solutions.html?m=1

 http://factominer.free.fr/

The information presented in this map chart is characterized by simular flavor camps that Dave Broom also uses in his writings.

I find both flavor maps highly informative and helping me identify where the whisky I like is placed in these charts. Will that mean I will not like a whisky that is situated on the other end of a spectrum? It may, but when I am after a simular taste experience to a whisky I know I may look at these charts and find a close neighbor. 

Another chart I located online also puts port/whine/sherry influences in a chart. 

This help because it shows the influence of sherry and other wine casks on the flavor profile of a whisky. From the Dave Broom diagram is is not clear to me if I would be buying a sherry matured whisky or not. This is not a big issue since you will probably be able to read information on the label that would help in this respect. Also blogs, reviews can help. I however like this char since it helps spot the sherry tasting whisky I don't like at this point in time. 

Is there a universal truth? No! Why do I say this? A chart like the ones above may be true on some level, but it will never have the detail to match up with your own personal flavor preferences. Therefor I advice to use these charts for what they are and let your senses make the choice if you like a dram or not. 

Hunting for Lagavulin 16 yo

This Blog was originally posted on my iRomby Blog. (iromby)

I wanted to find out what I would need to pay for a bottle of #lagavulin 16 yo 700 ml, 43%

Photo by : https://thesinglemaltsnob.wordpress.com/tag/lagavulin/

Turns out that here in Holland my options are: 

Drank.nl : € 48,50

Drankgigant.nl : € 48,50

Drankdozijn.nl : €44,50

Mitra.nl : € 63,99

Gall.nl : € 54,29

Bestofwhisky.com : € 54,70

http://www.onlinewhiskybestellen.nl :€ 57,95

Whisky-on-line.com : € 53,12

passievoorwhisky.nl : € 59,95

Prices mentioned are valid on the 30th of December 2015.

There is a clear winner Drankdozijn.

Unboxing Bruichladdich LaddieMP3 gift

To honor an epic sail trip sponsored by the Bruichladdich distillery people could send in pictures of their own epic trips!

The lads at Bruichladdich had some wee laddie bottle available and three lucky people would get selected and win a dram. People were promoted to actively bribe the jury, in good Bruichladdich tradition!

I entered and won a dram! Below are photos of the unboxing! 

The dram that I got is a 2015, distilled in 

2003, FULL TERM PORT casks, whisky that was selected to give a Christmas feeling. 

The Bruichladdich site tells us this about this dram: Distilled in 2003 and bottled in 2015, this single malt whisky has spent its entire maturation period in a port hogshead barrel by the shores of Loch Indaal.

Northern Portugal's Douro river valley is not only port's Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC), it has UNESCO world heritage status due to archaeological evidence of wine production stretching back two thousand years.

The limited amount of 250 bottles are sold out on the Bruichladdich site and for good reason. It is bottled at a whopping 60.1% / vol and that is obviously cask strength! 

I have not added water myself till now, but you could if you wanted to. Just try if you can! 

Will probably post a blog about what I think I smell and taste later. 

The iLaddie blog

This blog will be About my quests in the wonderful world of whisky.

I have been learning about flavour profiles in the last view days. The blog I used to post on was iromby.blogpost.nl which I will probably still use, but not so much for whisky. 

The whisky I'm most proud of getting till now is the Bruichladdich 2001 resurrection dram which was bottled to honour the reopening in 2001 of this distillery. 

I had to really look all over Dutch websites to find it. Eventually I located a store in Enkhuizen that had one bottle available. 

Having sold some good amount of Lego I decided to get this bottle for €171,- 

I'm still debating if I'm ever going to open it, but it looks like I will!