Royal Brackla 12 Years Old (43%)

This Royal Brackla, an official release, aged 12 year old and bottled at 43%. Founded in 1812 near Nairn, on the Cawdor Estate, Royal Brackla is the King's Own Whisky. Today the distillery sits in the John Dewar and Sons stable, owned by Bacardi.

The spirit was run through lamp glass spirit stills for a clean, fruity spirit, to build a fragrant, orchard fruit character. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the fruit. Around twelve to sixteen years the malt gains a sherried depth over the fruit. The clean, fruity new make takes wood gracefully across long maturation. The distillery was rebuilt and expanded across its long working life. A fruity, lightly spiced make sits at the heart of every bottling. Cawdor Burn water and tall stills shape a clean, elegant spirit. The royal warrant set Brackla apart in the early days of legal whisky. Few Highland malts wear their history as openly as this one.

At 43% it is clean and refined. Honey, apple and a soft spice sit alongside soft vanilla and honey from the cask. A baked apple and a warm spice lift it. It finishes clean, elegant and fruity. This is a sherried, fruity dram from the far north.