Black Art 11 has been created using pre-renaissance casks from Bruichladdich Distillery (pre-2001) which have been safeguarded and maturing on Islay for 24 years.

An enigmatic alchemy which relies on nature, craftsmanship and the quiet passing of time, what happens inside each cask under cover of darkness in the depths of the warehouse remains a mystery. Black Art 11 is a testament to this elusive mastery. Using artisanal techniques passed down from one generation to the next; the spirit is pulled exclusively from Bruichladdich distillery pre-renaissance casks which have been patiently maturing on our island home for almost three decades. The finite single malt is created in secret by our head distiller, Adam Hannett, with the recipe only known to him. Putting our trust in Adam, he is given creative freedom to bring this incredible whisky to life. Using pre-renaissance Bruichladdich stock, Black Art 11 is unique and unrepeatable. A chance to experiment, take risks and push the boundaries of possibility; only Adam knows what has gone into creating the precious 24-year-old single malt. The barley and cask types are undisclosed, with the final recipe a mystery. Matured in the finest oak, this eleventh edition of Black Art showcases the captivating marriage of faith and ingenuity and we invite you to put your trust in us.

TASTING NOTES

COLOUR: Rich Tawny.

NOSE: Dried fruits, leather and a hint of citrus immediately open on the nose, followed by a fresh sea breeze. Sweet fruit and floral notes come to the fore, with poached pear, delicate rose hip syrup, black cherry, and sweet mango. The complexity of the single malt is apparent as the aromas continue to open, with cedar and mellow oak complemented with butterscotch, praline, honey, and a hint of cinnamon. Warming oats are balanced with fragrant notes of rose and pear drops.

PALATE: Dried fruits, dates, raisins, barley sugar, leather and oak open on the palate, followed by butterscotch sweetness, praline and hints of coconut and fresh citrus. Sweet apple and pear are married with toasted oak, warming wood spice, dark plums and marzipan, with layers of depth opening with each sip.

FINISH: Oak and dried fruit come to the fore, with Christmas cake notes of sultanas, fig, marzipan, and lingering honey adding to the beautifully rounded finish.

During a time when efficiency took priority over quality, our distillery was viewed as outdated. Prior to its closure in 1994, our single malt accounted for less than 1% of all "pre-renaissance" whiskies still maturing in our warehouses. However, our older spirits have become highly prized and cherished. To honor the exceptional work of our predecessors, our head distiller, Adam Hannett, has meticulously nurtured the finite 1992 vintage on its 29-year journey through various casks. This unpeated spirit has been matured in top-quality oak and its recipe is kept highly confidential, as is customary with all previous Black Art editions. The 9th edition of Black Art is our most alchemic single malt and the oldest ever produced. It is the epitome of the Black Art series and is designated as Edition 09.1.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: The color is a deep russet.

Aroma: The fragrance is simply breathtaking, with tropical fruit, coconut, tobacco, oak spices, and toasted pine needles interweaving to create a complex aroma. Over time, this magnificent whisky releases waves of succulent mango, honey-drizzled melon, warm orange zest, grilled pineapple, and ripe summer strawberries. The scent is tantalizingly fruity and mouth-watering, with gentle oak nuances of coconut, ginger, buttery shortbread, vanilla custard, and a hint of tobacco.

Palate: The viscosity and depth of this dram are unparalleled. The tobacco and brown sugar notes of the oak provide the foundation for the superb fruit combinations to shine. A hint of water and a second sip reveal even more of the intricate layers of this remarkable whisky.

Finish: The luscious fruit sweetness lingers on the tongue for an extended period, with apricot, mango, and baked banana flavors, along with toasted sweet oak, honey, and vanilla. One never wants the experience to end.

Character: In creating this edition of Black Art, we were inspired by the efforts made in crafting the earlier versions of this series, where there was an unrelenting quest to layer flavor. This whisky rested in some of the finest casks, acquiring a delicate layer of fruit before being moved to a new cask. We carefully monitored and tasted it, seeking new directions with each new cask, until it reached perfection.

Bere Barley is a six-row heritage variety that has long since been forgotten from the modern world of standardised whisky making. Its revival into present day has taken effort and resilience from an entire network of millers, growers and agronomists. Our Bere project is dedicated to those like-minded souls, who have preserved a legacy and found modern applications in flavourful food and drinks, whatever the odds. This Bruichladdich Bere Barley was distilled in 2010 from a 2009 harvest, brought home by Peter, John, Magnus, Sydney and Duncan on the Orkney Islands.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: At first the nose is dominated by cereal, porridge oats, malty notes but quickly followed by intense fruit, ripe pear and peaches in syrup, lemon meringue pie. There is a fresh breezy quality like fresh linen. The oak brings honey, vanilla, coconut and hints of cinder toffee and fudge. As time opens this unique dram up, the peach notes become all enveloping and anything else is had to find.

Taste: Back to the malted barley on the palate, the texture is like honey, rich and incredibly viscous. A range of sweet fruit and oak notes jostle for position, peaches in syrup again, honey, chocolate, cinder toffee and apricot jam, there is an amazing sweetness from the oak and malt that is unlike any other spirit we make, the Bere barley gives so much intensity of flavour and the spirit has drawn deep from the wood in the last eight years.

Finish: On the finish there is an air of gentle grace as the softness of the fruit continues, pear and apple come through with the peach notes and offer another dimension. The oak and malt fade away slowly and leave you to contemplate an incredible experience.

Character: An absolute delight to behold, from the outstanding texture to the intensity of the fruit, this ancient grain yet again confirms our barley exploration is based on distillation for flavour not yield. This particular vintage has an intensity and range of flavour I have seldom seen before but inspires us yet again to continue our journey.

The whisky we distil from the organic barley of Mid Coul reflects the complex natural flavours of the landscape. Just as our stillmen refuse to abandon the traditional crafts of distillation in favour of automation or industrialisation, so farmer William Rose rejects the use of herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilisers. Crop rotation is key. Our barley must take its turn in a seven year farm cycle that also produces organic cattle, sheep, oats, beans, grass, carrots, market gardening and a megawatt of green electricity. Respecting the land, the soil and the climate nourishes a genuine and thorough understanding of terroir and the results are pure Bruichladdich.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Fresh malted barley, melon, peach and apricot. Opens up with notes of rich honey, lemon meringue and floral notes of gorse and heather. Vanilla and caramel and pastry notes from the wood are nicely balanced with the intensity of the fruit, waves of pear apple and gooseberry still hint at the fresh green fruits of the spirit.

Taste: Sweet pear drops, vanilla fudge, chocolate and marzipan initially. No aggression here at all just well-integrated flavours and a round gentle texture. The oak and malt notes complement each other so well overlapping each other with toasted rye bread, buttery popcorn and fresh oak, vanilla fudge and smooth caramel merging. The organic barley seems to give more fruit from the distillation and a more viscous texture which is a joy to the olfactory senses.

Finish: Sweet citrus, lemon drops, come through well on the finish and a slight char from the oak gives depth. The finish feels more marine, a little briny alongside the oak and malt which works beautifully.

Character: Elegance, richness and definite Bruichladdich DNA. The depth of flavour comes from the malt and its transformation through the alchemy of distillation. The spirit is pure and fresh, the oak rich and honied, together with time the combination of great oak, superb barley and slow distillation make for an amazing exploration of the fundamentals of making whisky.

Exposing the structural brilliance of our pure, unadulterated Octomore super heavily peated spirit, our 11.1 edition is powerful, understated and vibrant. Underpinned with a delicate balance of smoke and sweet vanilla from the ex-American oak casks, this single malt has spent just 5 years in contact with fresh first fill wood. The presence of peat on the palate is huge, and yet is incredibly balanced with clean fruit and floral notes. Distilled in 2014 from the 2013 harvest of 100% Scottish barley then filled into active ex-American oak, this high provenance, high peat single malt is a fitting embodiment of how quality ingredients demand less time to reach maturity.

TASTING NOTES

CHARACTER: Lithe, sleek with intense earthy peat notes, balanced by the presence malt sugar, vanilla and oak. The scents of Islay in a glass – the ozone fragrance of the sea, bog myrtle from the moss and peat smoke in the cold night air and at the heart of it all a warmth that brings harmony to the whole.

AROMA: Initial notes of Lemon, wet peat, pencil shavings, and a salty minerality. Peach yoghurt, cinder toffee, rubbery smokey almost antiseptic notes come from the peat smoke, well balanced with the green fruit and malty notes coming through the spirit. Honey, malt sugar, dried grass, come through with time with a little hint of ginger and wood spice.

TASTE: Brown sugar sweetness hits the palate initially. The chilli heat of high strength carries the Octomore DNA across the palate, it is clean, supple in texture and has a complex combination of flavours rushing for attention. Another taste and stone fruit, apricot, that peach yoghurt come to the fore and then the cask influence appears with sweet vanilla, toasted oak, brown sugar and soft toffee. The maritime notes, the minerality and citrus all weave the Bruichladdich DNA through the flavour profile bonding the sense of place and identity in this dram.

FINISH: Malt, huge Peat notes, earthy and oily, tar and bonfires. Vanilla honey, ginger spice and syrupy sweetness.

Peated to a heavyweight 40ppm, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley is a cuvee crafted from cask profiles originally selected by master distiller Jim McEwan. It showcases the supreme elegance of this remarkable single malt – a union of the classic floral elegance of Bruichladdich and heavy peat. Trickle distilled from 100% Scottish Barley the spirit gently matures in the lochside village of Port Charlotte before being bottled here at the distillery using Islay spring water.

TASTING NOTES

Character: The texture is extraordinarily rich with a huge depth of character. The smouldering heat of peat fires pulls you into a whirlpool of islay flavours and aromas but with such finesse that you welcome the storm.

Colour: Gilded lily.

Nose: Opening with assertive waves of peat smoke and Atlantic squall, the olfactory system is on high alert in anticipation of some major sensory excitement. A swell of aromatics flood the senses with notes of iodine, salty canvas, crushed sea shells, charred oak staves, black pepper, paprika and leather tobacco pouches. The second wave brings vanilla, figs and soft plump dates, marinated pear, freshly milled malt, dark sweet toffee and cracked walnuts. It’s smoky. It’s smouldering. It’s sensuous. Just close your eyes and inhale long and deep. This is aromatic awesomeness.

Palate: Wow! Waves of the sweetest, smoothest, warmest smokiest spirit that you have ever experienced flood onto the palate like the atlantic surf on Saligo Bay. It is potent, focused and the flavours explode brilliantly onto the palate. Full of depth and complexity, the smokey sweetness of the barley contrasts beautifully with the marine freshness of the spirit and the richness of toffee and vanilla. The complexity is enhanced further with a citrus twist and then mellow oak tempers the fire. Once the taste buds adjust to what is happening, they rejoice in the company and pleasure of this young Celt.

Finish: It’s long and heart-warming, arousing feelings of pride and passion. It brings courage and strength, honesty and faith to your very soul.

Mood: It cries “freedom”. You are in a good place and you envy no man. You feel alive and ready for whatever lies ahead, knowing that the true spirit of Islay is with you.

Sitting alongside its 11s series counterparts, this Ten Year Old brings a subtler, more mature dimension to the otherwise youthful exuberance of the .1, .2 and .3 spirits. While we deliberately keep the barley influence forward in the .1 and .3 editions, our .2 and Ten Year Old editions introduce cask influence at varying ends of the Octomore age spectrum. While the malt for our Octomore Ten Year Old is initially higher in PPM, the influence of those 5 extra years results in a calmer, deeper spirit.

TASTING NOTES

CHARACTER: Grown up Octomore, relaxed and refined, with age we lose some of the vitality but develop a sense of calm and deep complexity.

AROMA: Wonderful Bouquet of Peat and fruit. Nectarine and citrus fruits with hints of pineapple and mango, a depth of rich sweetness and complexity. Vanilla and oak sugar, nutty and vibrant. With age the fruit comes through so well, and the depth of flavour is wonderful, more exotic fruits and that citrus and minerality character which is the DNA of our spirit.

TASTE: Wonderful salty tang on the lips, leading into a viscous and honey like texture. Beautiful fruit notes and sweet oak make this a joy to hold on the palate, the peach, ripe pineapple and mango, dried apricot and peach notes are beautifully weighed against the smoke and oak, the extra age and combination of casks bring a level of maturity to this expression of Octomore that gives a new dimension to our understanding of this exceptional single malt

FINISH: Oak driven, coconut, tobacco, vanilla, then smoke. The time in the cask has calmed the smoke, both through the phenols lowering naturally over time and the influence of the oak becoming greater.

COLOUR: Gold.