Country: Scotland – Islay
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Type: Single Malt
Age: 12
Cask: Various
ABV: 52.1%
Proof: 104.2
Price: $370
Nose: Peat smoke, toasted bread, dates, ripe figs, a cedar tree, dark chocolate, cinnamon bark, beechwood, black tea, leather, Sherry wine residue.
Palate: Dried fruit, oak tannins, currant, blackberry, briny notes. Creamy texture, violet, floral tones.
Finish: Bacon-wrapped dates, ashy peat, salty end.
One morning of 2021, I woke up with a raffle email from Bruichladdich and with half-open eyes, I entered my information. A couple of weeks later, I had the good news of winning a bottle! At that moment, I understood that I never looked at the price during the application. I spent around $350 and I was just hoping it to be nothing but good. Another thing I missed was the description. Bruichladdich The Ternary Project was actually what I once dreamed as a whisky that I'd wish from the Islay distillery.
What Is The Ternary Project?
In a long, spirited conversation with a few friends, I wished a bottle from Bruichladdich, that would be a blend of Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore. You all know my love for Octomore from our yearly releases. this year we worked on Octomore 12 too!
The Ternary Project made my dreams come true. In Bruichladdich's own words, "This Ternary Project, meaning to consist or involve three parts, pays homage to a time in our distillery's past when we refuted the practice of distilling one homogenized malt type. Combining our three most recognized single malts, these are three vintages of three spirit types, matured in three classes of casks."
Bruichladdich The Ternary Project
The whisky consists of 30% Bruichladdich, 40% Port Charlotte and 30% Octomore malts. Unpeated Bruichladdich single malt is distilled before the closure of the distillery and was filled into 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogsheads before being re-casked into red wine casks from France and then PX Sherry butts from Fernando De Castilla.
Meanwhile, heavily peated Port Charlotte spirit which was distilled right after the renaissance was filled into a combination of 1st fill Oloroso Sherry casks, virgin oak, and 1st fill bourbon barrels.
Lastly, heavily peated Octomore distilled in 2008, filled into Sauternes, French Mourvedres, Austrian sweet wines, ex-Amarone and bourbon casks was used in this project.
How Does It Taste Like?
Imagine everything you like from Bruichladdich coming together. Very experimental but also monumental for me. The marriage of these radiant casks and barrels with peated, unpeated and super peated whiskies coming together. Just imagine you are sitting next to a bonfire with bacon-wrapped dates in your mouth and some stone fruits are being grilled.
The nose has dominant peat smoke, toasted bread with dates and ripe figs. The cedar tree, dark chocolate, beechwood blends elegantly. Then cinnamon bark, leather appears and after a few minutes, Sherry lovers will start receiving notes of a glass that was previously filled with PX Sherry.
The palate is filled with dried fruits, a healthy but not overpowering amount of oak tannins, currant, blackberry, briny notes. The creamy texture is beautifully felt with violet and floral tones.
My favorite snack, bacon-wrapped dates is here again with deeply ashed peat and savory-salty final.
Verdict
Yes! The Ternary Project is quite expensive, but it is beautiful and very much available. I love the fact that this whisky is a blend of three great malts and it is still a single malt too!