Bruichladdich has released an all American Classic with French royal family and a revolutionary war connections - The Bourbon 16 which is forecast to run until 2011. It replaces the Bruichladdich Fifteen year old bottling.

 

New Bourbon laws, when US Prohibition ended in 1933, stated casks must be  used just once before being sold off.

Today redundant Bourbon barrels represent about 97% of casks used for maturing Scotch whisky. Their influence on Scotch is enormous. These casks are made from Quercus Alba, white oak, also known as American Oak from the Ozark mountains of Missouri and Kentucky.

Tyloses, or celluar growths, make this oak more water-tight meaning  it can be machine-worked, use thinner staves,  reducing coopering costs.

 

“Our American Classic, the Bourbon 16”, says MD Mark Reynier, “makes a great contrast to our French oak “First Growth ” series.

“We wanted to reaffirm the American connection: The end of Prohibition changed not only America but the flavour of Scotch Whisky.

 

“Scotch and American whiskies are historically linked. It’s a symbiotic cycle: we gave them distilling, so they can sell us cheap casks.”

Immigrant Scots started distilling in the US shortly after the American War of Independence in a newly established (1785) county -  Bourbon.

It was called Bourbon in homage to the French royal family, in recognition of their help in the battle against the English.

Just four years later the French Revolution started. America’s national spirit was nearly called  Napoleon.

 

Recommended retail price is +/- £45  or $99

Strength: 46%

 

Source: Mark Reynier, Bruichladdich

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