Jan. 31: Drammers Denver -w- Bruichladdich's Brand Ambassador Devin Vilardi...
Hello Denver Drammers!
You’re invited to join us for a special tasting on Friday, January 31st at 7pm with Bruichladdich’s brand ambassador Devin Vilardi. Devin is one of the most respected educators in the industry and his knowledge of every aspect of whisky is truly extraordinary. He’ll be presenting a wide range of Bruichladdich expressions at this tasting. A big thank you to Joshua and Clarke for organizing and to Clarke for hosting at his soon-to-be-opened whisky bar and restaurant Little Wolf (formerly Cafe Brazil, address: 4408 Lowell Blvd, Denver). Here’s the lineup:
24yo Black Arts Edition 11.1. Our headliner is a real rarity that retails for over $600/bottle (if you can find one!). As the name would imply, they don’t release much information about these releases. “Aged in oak casks”. Ha. But the results speak for themselves. The distillery does disclose that this was created using “pre-renaissance casks from Bruichladdich Distillery (pre-2001) which have been safeguarded and maturing on Islay for 24 years.” 44.2% abv. ($599.99 / bottle)
Octomore 15.2. This super-heavily-peated Islay Single Malt has achieved cult status, and the 15.2 edition in particular can be hard to find even at $223/bottle. It is initially matured in American oak, and finished in French oak ex-Cognac casks. At 108 PPM, it is twice as peaty as even the Ardbegs and Laphroaigs of the world, but in the 15 series of Octomore releases, you might call this a gentle Octomore if that doesn’t sound too ridiculous! 57.9% abv. ($222.99 / bottle)
Bruichladdich 18yo. Bruichladdich aged 18 years is rare for obvious reasons, matured exclusively on Islay, primarily in ex-Bourbon casks and a small number of wine casks. 50% abv. ($174.99 / bottle)
Port Charlotte - Islay Barley 2014. The “Port Charlotte” line is distilled at Bruichladdich and represents their heavily peated expressions. This expression features barley exclusively grown on Islay — and if you’ve ever been to Islay, you’ll know that the isolated, windy island makes it nearly impossible to grow barley (only a handful of particularly hardy varieties have a chance of surviving to harvest). Aged 7 Years, Distilled in 2014. 50% abv. ($89.99 / bottle)
Port Charlotte PMC 01. For their 6th release in the Cask Exploration series, they used Scottish Concerto barley peated to 40ppm, matured in 1st fill bourbon barrels for 4 years, and then recessed into Pomerol wine casks from Bordeaux’s Right Bank (their first time using Pomerol casks for Port Charlotte). Aged 9 years, distilled in 2013. 54.5% abv. ($149.99 / bottle)
Port Charlotte 10yo. We’ll try the flagship releases under their Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte lines as a delicious point of comparison. Heavily peated Islay Single Malt, aged 10 years on Islay. 50% abv ($69.99 / bottle)
Classic Laddie - Islay Single Malt (unpeated). This is the expression that made Bruichladdich famous, for understandable reasons once you’ve tasted it. 50% abv. $59.99 / bottle
That’s our lineup, we hope you can join us! As usual, we’ll order in light food to the event (likely pizza, included) and as always we strongly encourage everyone to arrange a ride home (look at all that cask strength whisky we’ll be tasting!). Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
Cheers,
Charlie, Joshua, Clarke and Drammers Club