Feis Ile Whiskies from Bruichladdich; Rozelieures from France
Hello everyone
Back from France and Belgium since last Thursday afternoon with a new discovery. However, today I have an e-mail showcasing Bruichladdich‘s whiskies for this year‘s Feis Ile so let‘s learn more about those first.
There are two whiskies - a Port Charlotte and an Octomore. Surprisingly, no Bruichladdich bottling this year. Both are Reduxes as in revivals of renowned past releases and both to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Bruchladdich reopening at Feis Ile 2001.
Port Charlotte PC5 Redux is „An homage to the first spirit to come off the stills 25 years ago when the distillery restarted production and the first whisky to be released by the reopened distillery“. Octomore Black Art Redux is described by them as, „...a legendary release. Ten years on from its debut at Fèis ile 2016, OBA combines the mysteries of Bruichladdich’s Black Art with Octomore’s nuanced power.“ Both expressions will be unveiled on Bruichladdich‘s Feis day (Rock‘ndaal) on Sunday 24th May so I hope to get to taste at least one of them there.
They remind us that on May 29th, 2001, when Bruichladdich Distillery first reopened after being mothballed in 1994, Port Charlotte, a heavily peated single malt Scotch, was the first liquid to run off the stills. Five years later, PC5 was the first Port Charlotte whisky released by the distillery. Master Blender Adam Hannett says, „This revisiting of the original PC5 recipe captures the raw energy of heavily peated Islay whisky in its formative years. Distilled, matured and bottled on Islay, the spirit leads with confidence — vibrant, smoky and alive with bright citrus. American oak supports the spirit rather than dominating it, allowing the purity of the barley and the influence of Islay’s unique locale to shine through. It’s amazing to think that this was the first spirit to run off the stills during our debut festival day in 2001. Powerful yet elegant, this whisky celebrates the bold character that defined an era.” This version has been aged for 5 years and is bottled at 63.5% alc. vol. There are only 2,500 bottles and price is £75.
The Octomore OBA bottling is, we are told, „...an experimental whisky that resurrects the OBA concept ten years after its initial debut.“ Adam first showed this one in 2016 and it was released for sale the following year as OBA Concept_01. The 2026 version „marries the clandestine nature of Bruichladdich’s Black Art series with the extreme peat smoke of Octomore“. Adam makes the point that Bruichladdich‘s aim is for transparency in all except Black Art, preferring there simply to revel in flavour and not technical detail. „So, we asked ourselves, ‘what if the mysteries of Black Art and the nuanced power of Octomore were married together?’” Octomore OBA comes in at 54.2% alc. vol. „...with a palate of persistent peat smoke, tropical fruits and roasted marzipan“. Adam goes on to say, “This is a beautifully fragrant and fruit-forward Octomore. Floral elegance and tropical sweetness meet smoke and tempered oak. It is a spirit of immense power, yet possesses a silken, architectural refinement. Unlike other Octomore expressions, you won’t find us talking about the age or phenol parts per million of this release. Sometimes, things are better left a mystery.” I do love a good mystery. The amount of this one available is also 2,500 bottles but it‘s rather more expensive at £325 per bottle. Plenty for Bruichladdich enthusiasts to entertain their taste buds with both of these.
You‘ll find both of these available to purchase via www.bruichladdich.com or in-person at Bruichladdich Distillery from 24th May 2026. If you‘re not able to get to Islay for Bruichladdich‘s events you will be able to join in on live stream at https://uk.bruichladdich.com/pages/rockndaal.
Now, swanning round France as I recently have, I was hoping to try some French whisky beyond those few that I‘ve tried before. I was in luck when spending a couple of days in Nancy. Our hotel has a little display from a regional (Lorraine) distillery, Rozelieures. The whisky I brought back to try is Rozelieures Single Malt from their Origine Collection. They have several collections. They say the Origine Collection is matured in sherry, cognac and bourbon casks though proportions are not mentioned. My notes from the expression I tried are:
Appearance: Deep sunshine gold/old gold with brass highlights. Tears are quite swift and close so it‘s fairly youthful. No mention of age on the label or on the website.
Nose: Plenty of fruit sweetness. Baked apples and pears with brown sugars. Light honey and honeycomb bar, creamy oak and a little bit of smoke. From the bottle there was a hint of smoke too.With water, maybe a little more smoke edges in plus a dash of citrus zest. Some yeasty notes then more fruit sweetness like apple juice or cider as it sits. A moreish nose.
Palate: Medium weight, slightly oily mouth feel. The smoke is more obvious on the palate but still gentle and deftly woven through. Good sweet fruit and a hint of citrus zest bitterness. A slight touch of honey and oak.
Finish: Fairly long with smoke and honey, sweet spices and a residual dryness with a zesty prickle on the tongue.
I‘m glad to have been introduced to this one and think it would also work well as a base giving some bite to mixers or a cocktail with the right additional ingredients. I should like to try more expressions from this company. I‘m pleased to advise that Royal Mile Whiskies and Master of Malt stock some of them. The distillery/family background is interesting. The family has been distilling since the late 19th century when they started off using mirabelle plums (small yellow ones) when they had to change crops. The current family members are sixth generation to run the distillery. The current person in charge is a daughter of the family, Sabine. Her husband, Christophe, shares a love of Scotch Whisky with Sabine‘s father and they travel to Scotland occasionally. It was after one such trip that he realised thay have all necessary to make a whisky and persuaded his wife and father-in-law to commit to it. There‘s a lot more information on their website at https://whiskyrozelieures.com which is in French and English.
That‘s all from me for this time. Hardly back from France and Belgium and I‘m off to Islay this weekend for a couple of days of Feis Ile to attend the Bruichladdich Masterclass - at their kind invitation – and hoping to say hello to Islay residents that I know. So there will be more to say on that next time.
Till then, happy dramming.
Slainte mhath,
Caroline
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