This year Navigate World Whisky officially partnered up with Independent bottler Rest & Be Thankful, overcoming bottle size and packaging obstacles through production efforts from both abroad and in South Africa.

On the whisky front we launch with two single casks from the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, both of which were distilled under the reign of Mark Reynier. As with many a renowned Scottish distillery, Bruichladdich founded in 1881, mothballed for the first time from 1929 to 1936, has had a series of closures and reopenings between 1983 and late 2001. Fortunately this came to an end in late 2000 when it was purchased by Murray McDavid and later on acquired by current owners Rémy Cointreau in 2012.

Unlike their neighbouring distilleries from the island of Islay, the Bruichladdich range is made without peat. Without the influence of smoke, they expose the brilliance of their raw ingredient – barley. Distilled on 11/07/2011 and fully matured in an ex-bourbon cask, unchill-filtered and without added colourants, this single cask bottling allows one to enjoy an Islay single malt, “unpeated”.

Profile: Glorious Golden Barley.

Nose:  Good gracious! That’s a barley nose. Freshly cut grass (after all barley is a member of the grass family, is it not?) Rich stewed fruits, vanilla icing, icing sugar, a donut. Jelly tots, the pink and yellow ones come to mind but also the bottom of the actual packet where the most sugar is carried. Back to baked fruits, vanilla, plenty of yeast and actually, let’s just call this one big bakery. Wild flowers, wild herbs, a field full of life. Revisited after sipping, a salt and maritime note reveals itself along with freshly shucked oysters and a dash of lemon. Who says it needs to be peated to taste of Islay?

Palate:  Sweet, fruity, thick, fulfilling, and balanced with just the right amount of ABV. Crisp apples, a hot toddy lightly spiced, warm apple cider and perhaps a baked lemon cake. Freshly malted barley grains offer a rich malt mouthfeel that leads to a long, long finish.

Finish:  Long yet not warm, building up layer after layer of malted barley, apple stew, poached pears, and spices.