Thursday, September 17, 2020

Scotch Review: Royal Brackla

 

In the Scottish village of Cawdor you will find the Royal Brackla distillery that was established in 1812.

Royal Brackla is an obscure distillery that has generally made rare and largely unnoticed appearances in releases by independent bottlers. In 2015, the distillery started to release its single malt.  While you are probably not familiar with this distillery, you have tasted it a bit if you ever tried any Dewar's whiskies, as it is an ingredient malt in their blended Scotch releases.

Category
Single malt Scotch whisky.

Region
Speyside.

Closure
Cork stopper.

Age Statement
12 years.

ABV
40%

Chill-filtration?
Yes, I think so.

Artificial Colour?
Unknown.  I think in 2020 they announced to have natural colour but no such declaration on the bottle.

Wood Management
I visited the website and it states that the 12 year old is finished in oloroso sherry casks.  So, that means it was not aged for a full twelve years in those casks.  Finishing is much shorter period of time.  Maybe six months to two years.  This impacts flavor and potential for complexity.

Nose (undiluted)
Piercing, concentrated citrus notes.  Sea air.

Palate (undiluted)
Oranges, vanilla, and then old English cheddar.  White pepper and charred oak.

Finish (undiluted)
Medium length. Tangerines, some milk chocolate, lemon and ginger root and then the cayenne pepper turns bitter.

General Impressions
A straight forward sherry cask dominated single malt.  Adding water only made it bitter.  This single malt is a bland presentation of sherry cask influenced malt whisky.  There was no complexity of flavor exhibited by the spirit.  A very mediocre sherried malt that is understandably used for blending of Dewar's, which happens to be a very mediocre blended Scotch brand.

Not recommended, unless you picked it up really cheap.
 




Best,



Jason Debly

3 comments:

  1. Dear Admin,
    I am Jamal Lloyd Johnson. Very informative post! I am thankful to you for providing this unique information.
    Jamal Lloyd Johnson
    Apollo Management:Mail: 1236 N. Sweetzer Ave, unit 17
    West Hollywood, CA 90069
    Jamal Lloyd Johnson
    Jamal Lloyd Johnson
    Jamal Lloyd Johnson
    Jamal Lloyd Johnson

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  2. G'day Jas!!
    Great review ...as always.
    Been after one about this whisky... thanks. Yep, $100 down here as well... Will avoid.

    Heard of Tamdhu ? Half through the 15yr and will grab the batch stgth 004. Also open ...yes it's been a while so a few have corks popped ! The Glen Scotia Victoriana.....improves with every taste. Springbank 10 is almost gone (awesome). and the Suntory TOKI. It's an interesting one... Michter bourbon... took a bit of getting used to I must say. On a whim I purchased a rum... Bumbu. Have you heard of it? And almost ready to open an Aussie one - Archie Rose - Malted Rye. Distilled up in Sydney. Won a few awards this one.
    Hope you folks are going well.
    take care mate.

    AL (from OZ)

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  3. Tamdhu is a nice steady Eddie of a single malt that is usually reasonably priced and I certainly enjoy from time to time.

    Springbank? Always impresses. Glad you like it.

    I have had a few Glen Scotia bottling s and always have been a bit underwhelmed. Decent but maybe not in my wheelhouse.

    Haven’t heard of Bumbu or Archie Rose.

    Enjoy!

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