Whisky : Royal Brackla 11 Year SMWS 55.56 “Teucher dubstep”

Country/Region : Speyside

ABV : 55.2%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 11 Years (Distilled 21 Sept. 2007)

Nose : Spring Roll Dipping sauce!  There are hints of fish-sauce, vinegar, sugar, and Thai sweet chilis all mingling together.  A sweetness more like molasses than caramel comes through.  Slightly rancid pickled carrots and turnips give some bite.  The nose is dominated by salt and vinegar notes.

Palate : Medium bodied and slightly oily, the vinegar just runs rampant with a slightly metallic edge.  Sweet vinegar, tangy black vinegar, and pickled mangos pucker the mouth a bit.  Lovely sour apples and green apples— which almost seem pickled with the ever present vinegar.  On the sweeter side is a black sugar bun and maybe a dollop of molasses.

Finish :  Granny-smith apples come to the fore with a bit of caramel before fading toward a tart fruit cobbler.  The finish lingers and pleasantly shifts between sweet and tart.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Spring Roll Dipping Sauce

Something Better : Glen Grant 30Y SMWS 9.149 (similar black sugar, more complex, drier)

Something Similar : Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve (Funkier pickle/vinegar, more shoes)

Something Worse : Bowmore 12 Year (similar black vinegar, more rubber, less body)

Notes : This was certainly a fun one— loads of interesting, almost off, notes in the glass and on the nose.  The sweet vinegar was an intriguing contrast to some of the fruitier notes.  Perhaps the greatest weakness with this dram was the body which seemed to become lighter over time.  At first it had a gentle oily character, but it almost seemed to become weaker by the end of the glass and the addition of water seemed to mute too many of the pickled flavors.

In terms of a sweeter Speyside, I thought this was quite enjoyable.  It was not overly dominated by apples or orchard fruits, it had just enough sour pucker to counteract the juicy sweetness.  Compared to Speysides with almost nondescript sweetness or drams that lean heavily into orchard fruit profiles, this was a nice change of pace.

I am not sure who would find this dram most enjoyable.  The slightly rancid and sour notes might not appeal to those who love big fruity drams.  The cask influence is pretty minimal— it has neither any sherry nor wine to bring forward fruity elements of the malt, nor does the ex-bourbon hogshead really bring a lot of spice of vanilla to the picture.  The dram is not really savory— it is not really coastal— it is just a funny duck.  A nice break from all the pigeons, but kind of squat and awkward to really spend a whole lot of time sitting with.