Jim McEwan Signature Collection 2.1 Bruichladdich 2008, First Fill Bourbon barrel, 12 years, 59.8%

Jim McEwan Signature Collection 2.1 Bruichladdich 2008, First Fill Bourbon barrel, 12 years, 59.8%

Distilled on 1st October 2008 this whisky spent its whole 12-year life maturing in cask #2666. This maturation took place in a 1st fill Bourbon barrel originally from Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Established in 1773, where the buffalo crossed the Kentucky River, and with 200 years of distilling and counting, it is one of the oldest distilleries in the United States of America. Their policy on wood and barrels is considered amongst the strictest in the bourbon industry. They insist on a 6-month aged oak barrel before charring and eventually filling. Having won more industry awards than any other distillery they must be doing something (well, a lot) right!

Bottled in February 2021 as Release 2.1 of the Jim McEwan Signature Collection, like all bottlings within the collection, it was bottled un-chill filtered, with no added colour, and natural at cask strength of 59.8% (Jim would have it no other way!), it yielded only 215 bottles.

Jim’s tasting notes;

Body Medium and satiny smooth due to non-chill filtration. The natural oils from the oak and the barley give a mouthfeel that is both smooth and succulent.

Nose & Palate Opens on newly cut barley fresh from the field, followed by a hint of lemongrass and coastal flowers; sea pinks, clover and marigold. Then the mellow nuttiness of the oak drifts in, with just a hint of the bourbon spicy notes you always find in a cask filled with malt whisky for the first time, working brilliantly with unpeated Brookie. On the palate, it’s the flavour of toasted barley that takes the spotlight with its biscuity sweetness and hints of vanilla throughout.

Soaked by the Atlantic storms and warmed by The Gulf Stream winds, the natural cooling environment of Islay plays a huge part on the flavours you have on your palate.

It’s a spirit in its prime. All the flavours are in a Hebridean halo. Matured by the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, it could have no better DNA.  It’s pure Islay from the barley to the bottle. No man could ask for more.