The fifth release in Bruichladdich’s super popular and delicious Black Art Series. This bottling first hit the shelves in 2017.

This is the first Black Art bottling to be created by new Bruichladdich master distiller, Adam Hannett, following the retirement of industry legend Jim McEwan.

As ever with Black Art bottlings, the recipe for this whisky is top secret (as suggested by the bottle’s arcane hermetic symbols, the alchemical magic of the distiller is being practiced furtively here), but we do know that the youngest whisky in the bottling was distilled in 1992, with an age of 24.

We also know that this dram is not peated, and that previous Black Art bottlings appear to have been matured in many different cask varieties. Bruichladdich state that this whisky has been matured in a mixture of French and American oak barrels.

The result is a floral whisky, with dark notes of prunes, raisins, sultanas, accompanied by vanilla, brown sugar, coconut, apricot, pressed flowers, mango, lemon zest, honey comb, nutmeg, bright American oak, sherry tannins, cloves, orange rind, cut grass and red grapes.

This bottling certainly leans more towards the American oak influence than previous Black Art bottlings, but it is no less delicious for it.

Bottled at a cask strength of 48.4% ABV and (as ever with Bruichladdich) without chill filtration or colouration, this is a satisfying, full-bodied dram.

The future looks bright with Adam Hannett.

• Product type
  Single Malt
• Distillery / brand
  Bruichladdich
• Country
  Scotland
• Region
  Islay
• Bottler
  Distillery Bottling
• Distillation date
  1992
• Bottling date
  2016
• Age
  24 years old
• Non-chillfiltered
  Yes
• Natural colour
  Yes
• SKU
  034971