Bruichladdich Re/Define 21 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700ml

Bruichladdich occupies the western shore of Loch Indaal on Islay and has built its reputation on transparency: named barley, stated provenance, no colouring and no chill filtration. The Re/Define series revisits the distillery's older stock, and this 21 year old is the unpeated Bruichladdich style given two decades of quiet work.

Distilled from Scottish barley and matured in a recipe of roughly four parts bourbon cask to one part sherry, it opens with burnt toffee, dried fig and a soft marshmallow sweetness, with the distillery's coastal signature showing as sea spray and wet pebble before a lift of lemon and orange zest.

The palate is brighter than the age suggests, orange juice, pineapple and lemon sherbet arriving first, then vanilla, sticky marmalade and toffee apple. The sherry portion adds dried fruit, chocolate and almond, with nutmeg and liquorice spice behind. A long, warming, mineral finish. One to take neat and unhurried.