Bruichladdich Rock’ndaal 01.2 Review
For Feis Ile 2022, Bruichladdich put out its Rock’ndaal 01.2 release. This whisky is a blend of Bruichladdich’s heavily peated Port Charlotte and Octomore whiskies aged in European wine and sherry casks. For those unfamiliar with the Octomore line from Bruichladdich, its claim to fame is being the peatiest whisky ever made. This is measured by a metric called PPM or parts per million. PPM accounts for the phenol content in the barley, which gives Islay whisky its smoky flavor. A kiln is used to burn peat, and the phenol from the peat attaches itself to the barley during this early stage of making whisky. The higher the PPM score, the smokier the whisky will be.
Some whiskies that people consider very smoky, such as Laphroaig, have a PPM level of roughly 40-50 ppm. The PPM also drops throughout the rest of the process of making the whisky. It’s not immediately clear to me why using the PPM level after roasting the barley is the best presentation of this data versus the final bottling PPM. Anyway, Octomore has been released with PPMs as high as 309 for the 08.3 bottling and as low as 88 for the 10.4 bottling. So we are dealing with close to double ppm at minimum here. Don’t be scared though! Even with ppm as high as 137.3 with the Octomore 13.1, I have always found the whisky to be incredibly smooth and flavorful. However, I have definitely had an Octomore that was even too smoky for me.
The Port Charlotte whisky is a core range whisky by Bruichladdich that to me tastes less peaty than other core range from Islay distilleries. I have usually described it as a good starter whisky for introducing someone to peated whiskies since the smoky notes are not quite as strong. The whisky is 40 ppm though so it is very similar to other whiskies like the Laphroaig 10 year or Lagavulin 12 and 16 year.
Blending Port Charlotte and Octomore and aging in wine and sherry sounded like a nice experiment to me, so I was excited to try and see this one available for sale at the Bruichladdich distillery when I visited. It was still available at the distillery in 2023, so I am sure it is still available for at least a try if you happen to be there. If you are ever interested in a distillery tasting at Bruichladdich, I found this whisky was pretty similar to some of the whiskies we tried in the private tasting. For our tasting, we tried an Octomore from 2010 aged in bourbon and Sauternes wine casks and a Port Charlotte from 2015 aged in Pedro Ximenez sherry and bourbon casks. Obviously, those whiskies are rarer and may never be released to market, but they do offer similar flavor profiles to the Rock’ndaal we have today.
The Rock’ndaal name is a play on the Loch Indaal body of water near the Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte villages on Islay and because of the music component of Feis Ile. Now that we have some of the basics of this whisky defined, I hope you are ready to get into the specifics of how this whisky actually tastes. Thanks to Whisky Saga for all the Octomore ppm data!
The Basics
Aged: Unknown
Bottles available: Unknown
Casks: Wine, sherry
ABV: 50%
Color: Dark amber
Nose: BBQ, cinnamon, butter, wood
Cost: $158
Purchased at: Bruichladdich distillery on Islay
Taste
The first sip you get raisin and caramel flavors followed by cinnamon and vanilla. It is a bit oily in the mouth and a bit heavier. The finishing taste is cinnamon with an appreciable peaty finish but not the strongest smoky taste.
It reminds me of many of the Pedro Ximenez sherry matured whiskies we have tried (e.g. Laphroaig Cairdeas 2021 and Lagavulin Distillers Edition 2022). The major difference is that it is a bit heavier than those whiskies. I definitely taste strong bourbon notes, which I think is contributing to the heaviness.
Neat or With Water
I enjoyed this one better with about two drops of water. The sweet spice comes through a lot stronger and the alcohol taste is a bit more subdued. The alcohol taste is not particularly strong when it’s neat though. I would be okay with drinking this one neat, but it is definitely a bit sweeter with some water.
Summary
Accessibility: The only place I have found this one outside of the distillery is in whisky auctions. Bruichladdich has a ballot system for releasing their Feis Ile bottlings if you cannot attend the festival, but they do not ship to the United States. I have found it is pretty consistently available in auctions though. I would not expect to see this on sale in the United State though.
Price: I paid what it cost at the distillery, so that’s about as good as it gets. In auctions, I have yet to see it go for more than $165. More recently, it has gone for as little as $105. With shipping and auction fees included, the range is closer to $180 on the low end and $240 on the high end.
Quality: I think this is a really nice whisky, and those who like Pedro Ximenez sherry cask matured whiskies will like the dried fruit and cinnamon flavors. That combination has usually worked well with peated whiskies. What makes this one unique is the strong bourbon flavors that show up. It’s not the smoothest flavor combination with the sweeter flavors, but it still works well.
Overall, this is a really nice dram. I appreciate Bruichladdich experimenting with blending their two well-known peated whiskies with sweeter casks. For those who want a peated bourbon, wine, and sherry combination, this will definitely be one to check out.
For me, I wish this one had a stronger peat finish and was a bit less oily and heavy. I personally enjoy whiskies that are a bit lighter, but the heavier taste still works very nicely with the sweeter and smoky notes. I would get another bottle of this if it were a bit more accessible in the U.S., but there is a lot of effort in getting this one that makes it a bit more challenging to recommend. That said, I will enjoy the rest of what I have and look forward to future Rock’ndaal releases.