Bruichladdich has just recently released a special Singapore-exclusive only bottling - the third of its kind since 2021. Cheers to that!

Within the Bruichladdich distillery lies an inventory of about 80,000 casks spanning over 200 types - it's in this range where Adam Hannett, Head Distiller of Bruichladdich since 2016, handpicks certain casks to show off their characteristics and flavour in this Micro Provenance concept.

Source: Whisky Shop

This year's edition, the Micro Provenance #0287, was distilled in 2011 and bottled in 2023 - made with Bere barley and aged in a second-fill Jurançon cask. The single cask strength whisky is bottled at 60.3%.

Jurançon is a wine region that sits at the southwestern corner of France (and also southwest of the Bordeaux region), flushed against the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains bordering Spain and France.

Source: Wine Folly

The wine region is known for their dry white wines and more famously for their semi-sweet to medium sweet white wines, making use of grapes such as Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng. For this bottling, I was informed that the cask used to age a semi-sweet white wine.

Petit Manseng. Other grapes such as Gros Manseng, Courbu and Arrufiac are grown in the region. Source: Decanter

Bere barley is an ancient type of barley (sporting six rows instead of two) that is said to be cultivated during the beginnings of agriculture in Scotland - while yielding lesser grain and has a hard exterior, gives a unique set of flavours when fermented and distilled. Bruichladdich has been slowly introducing the cultivation of this varietal on Islay (more on this in a later review)!

Bere barley. Source: Scotchwhisky.com

The Micro Provenance Cask #0287 has 288 bottles that are on sale only at One Cellar. The exclusive sale was similar to the previous itieration back in 2021, with the Micro Provenance Cask #1898.

I've had the opportunity to taste the whisky at a Bruichladdich tasting session held at El Pico, a Cuban-inspired members only club, and organised by One Cellar.

I hope teal furniture never goes out of style.

Let's get to it!

Bruichladdich Micro Provenance Cask #0287, 60.3% ABV - Review

Nose: Powerfully sweet and fragrant, carrying a deep cacao aroma that has been accented by raspberry - almost like a jam filled chocolate treat. As it sits, the raspberry and strawberry fragrances appear more alongside a milk chocolate fragrance, loosing some of that rich cacao. As it sits more  I get some honeysuckle as well.

Taste: Punchy sweetness comes through at first, drawing a lot of parallels with big sherry cask whiskies. The flavour reminds me of an aged white port - sweet white wine with deep oak flavours. On the palate, it develops towards caramelised orange.

Finish: The finish lasts quite deep and long, reminding me of lemon curd pie. There is a bit of a confectionery vanilla flavour somewhere in between a soft serve and a marshmallow. There is some juicy apple flavours here as well.

My Thoughts

Definitely a great whisky for those who love the dessert, sherry forward style. Despite the punch of sweetness, I still get other flavours of bright citrus and nuttiness to the whisky, bringing and appetizing flavour. I've loved it even more if the sweetness and intensity lingered a little bit longer on the finish, but otherwise a delicious dram to have had.

Rating: 7.9/10

You can grab a bottle at One Cellar's online shop here! Read our review of the Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2013 and the Bere Barley 2012 that we tried during this tasting!

@vernoncelli