Royal Brackla (D.2008, B.2021) The Ultimate / 58.2%/ 0.7l

Brackla Distillery, built by Captain William Fraser in 1812, is the first Scottish distillery to obtain a Royal Warrant.

King William IV seems to have enjoyed Brackla so much that in 1835 he allowed Fraser to use the prefix “Royal” (this privilege was renewed by Queen Victoria in the 1850s). Today, the distillery is owned by John Dewar & Sons, part of Bacardi since 1998, and produces around 4 million litres of distillate a year, most of which is “consumed” by Dewar’s blends. The Royal Brackla presented here is a proposal from the Dutch The Ultimate Whisky Co. Distilled on 6 May 2008, it was aged in multi-fill sherry butts before being finished in a fresh No. 7 sherry butt for 35 months. Bottled at cask strength (58.2% abv) on 26 March 2021 in an edition of 699 bottles.

Nose: pleasant notes of sherry, honey, toffee, marzipan, oranges and kumquats, sultanas, milk chocolate, notes of cinnamon and oak.

Taste : sweet, honey-roasted nuts, pralines, oranges, nectarines, cherries, golden syrup, Christmas gingerbread, a touch of cinnamon and cloves and a trace of oak.

Finish: quite long, with notes of milk chocolate, honey, caramel, orange jam and a hint of sweet spices.