Bruichladdich 22 Year Old First Fill Bourbon Barrel Chorlton Whisky 56.7%

Nose: Super-clean and fresh, with green melon and candied citrus, against a slate-y mineralic background. Notes of bay, baled hay, croissants, herbs and coal tar develop.

Palate: Fat, oily and citrussy. Lots of mandarin up front, with a few drops of passionfruit juice, before a really maritime finish with tons of salt, oysters with lemon, wax and touches of smoke.

The Bruichladdich distillery was constructed on the isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland in 1881 by Barnett Harvey. Then in 1886 Bruichladdich Distillery Company Ltd was founded. The site lies to the south west of the island and is one of nine working distilleries there. There have been numerous owners over the years and a time of consistency when Invergordon Distillers took over in 1968. In 1993 Whyte & Mackay bought Invergordon Distillers and the distillery was mothballed in 1995. Bruichladdich was then sold to Murray McDavid in 2000. Since 2001 when production started again the philosophy was to push the boundaries of the norm for whisky making. The distillery has become renowned for its innovation and willingness to experiment. There are three main lines produced, unpeated Bruichladdich, heavily peated Port Charlotte and ultra heavily peated Octomore. Not forgetting the botanist gin also distilled on site. The distillery has been very busy over the past twenty years producing new releases, batches and vintages of these great diverse whiskies.