Decades have passed since this unpeated spirit ran from the stills in our ethereal, Victorian stillhouse. The stillmen who were present in 1994 would have no concept of its destiny; that it would eventually become the eighth iteration of the notorious Bruichladdich Black Art.

This is an intriguing, uber-provenance single malt whisky distilled from barley grown by eight family farms on our remote Scottish island home. Barley assortments Optic and Oxbridge were planted over the expansiveness of the island in 2009. We distilled their spirit from the get-go in 2010 and it ran clean, rich and malty, before being filled into ex-Bourbon and French wine casks and matured in our warehouses by Loch Indaal.
TASTING NOTES

Colour

Hazel, rich copper.

Nose

The complexity of flavours combining on the nose makes this a joy to try and decipher. Initially a Citrus, lime zest, fresh orange style is met with a rich caramel and oaky notes of dried apricot, pipe tobacco, maple syrup. Oak shavings and toasted hazelnuts. Vanilla syrup. Leather and poached pears with honey and apricot jam coming through as the complexity opens up and the Floral nature of our spirit shows its hand with rose and geranium and after a little time a hint of wild thyme on the breeze. The balance between the spirit and the oak is beautiful, with the oak nurturing the delicate nature of the spirit. That is the hallmark of this edition of Black Art.

Taste

That citrus style, lemon zest and then the sweetness from the oak meets the palate beautifully. The texture is like warm honey, and brings notes of maple syrup, walnut, toasted oak and coconut. That delicate sweetness floods the palate with vanilla, dried apricot, caramel and millionaires shortbread. The light creamy texture and palate is so soft and gentle but packed with depth and as we draw towards the finish the delicate Bruichladdich DNA of soft stoned fruit comes to the fore.

Finish

The finish is gentle, sweet caramel, dried fruit, sultana, lemon drizzle cake. Hazel nuts, milk chocolate. It’s softness is calming.
Character – This Black Art edition stands alone when compared to its brothers. The style is much more about the DNA of the spirit and how the casks will highlight that soft fruit style and zesty character. A lighter Black Art created to explore an idea rather than fit a mould.