Royal Brackla 12 Years Old 2012 Cask #506/2012 (Cask Masters)

Brave New Spirits selected this Royal Brackla, a 12 year old from 2012, drawn from cask 506/2012 and bottled at 56.8%. Only 266 bottles were released. Opened in 1812 in the Highlands on the estate of Cawdor Castle, Royal Brackla is the King's Own Whisky. Cawdor Castle, said to inspire Shakespeare's Macbeth, stands on the same estate.

Double distilled in tall copper pot stills with upward angled lyne arms, giving the refined, lightly spiced make at its heart. A wine cask shaped it, the fruit and tannin meeting the elegant spirit. By this age the orchard fruit rounds into honey and a fuller spice. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit and spice deepening with age. Few Highland malts wear their history as openly as this one. The spirit was long destined for blends before its single malt revival. Royal Brackla was the first Scotch whisky ever to be granted a royal warrant.

At a hearty 56.8% it carries real weight. The Port cask adds plum, red berry and raisin, and the refill oak lending honey and vanilla, with pear, honey and a warm spice. The texture is smooth and rounded, the fruit lifted by honey. The finish runs honeyed, spiced and soft. This is Royal Brackla's refined Highland style.