Scotland, Northern Highlands: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

Advertisers on this page have been carefully selected. (see list)
Texte Français

Brora

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Brora distillerie
Brora Distillery
Brora
Sutherland KW9 6LR
Owner: United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo) Ltd
Creation date 1819

Photos

The distillery was originally called Clynelish. Its founder, the Marquis of Stafford, who will later become the Duke of Sutherland, notorious for the execrable way he chased people (about 1500) living on his land away, just to leave the place to sheep who were in his opinion more "profitable".
The marquis was a fearsome business man with good inspiration. To guarantee the incomes for his barley, he built a distillery and doing so he killed two birds with one stone: all his barley could be sold and he made great profits selling his whisky.
He got his distillers licence in 1824. Another reason for him to open a distillery was to cut the ground under the moonshine distillers who were legion in the area in those days.
The distillery was purchased in 1896 by the group James Ainslie & Co who sold a part of their shares to the D.C.L. (Distillers Company Ltd) in 1912 after having been absorbed by John Risk. In the meanwhile, the main part of Risk's shares have been bought by John Walker who merged with the D.C. L. who became so the owner for 100% in 1925.
The group was forced to close Clynelish. The distillery did not reopen before 1938 for a short while (3 years). World War II had the same consequences for Clynelish as for most of the other distilleries: closing due to a lack of barley.
In 1967 a new distillery has been build near the first one, under the name or Clynelish 2. The old distillery closed in 1969 and reopened in 1975 under the name Brora before closing for good in 1983. Brora produced the most peaty malt of the Highlands. Its nickname was "The Lagavulin of the North".
Its peaty malt helped the group to limit the consequences of the lack of malt for blends due to temporary closing of Caol Ila for important refurbishment works.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

See Help 0 - 40 € 40 - 80 € 80 - 120 € 120 - 160 € 160 - 200 € 200 - 240 € 240 - 280 € > 280 €
Brora official bottling

Brora
Aged 30 years
Bottling in 2003
Second release

Age
 30 years
Alcohol
 55,7°
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Colour : intense gold yellow.
Nose : wonderfully smoked. Notes of curry, of hay (stable) evoking a "vin jaune de Jura". camphor, smoke and tar.
Palate : malted, smoky. Swinging character between sugar and salt. Herb (wet grass), liquorice. More and more maritime and iodinated.
Finish : lingering, very fine. Animal character (leather). Remarkably fruity (ripe apple, prune)
((la Maison du Whisky)
Very nice smoke hints, part of a complex whole, rather difficult to describe, but with amongst other nice things, some animal notes characterize the nose. In the palate, a nice smoke impression, complex too, but a bit shy, which seems to hide some secrets this bottle wants to keep for a next tasting.... After adding a drop of water, some nice woody notes appear on a malty background. Hints of leather are part of the scene as well. A nice finish, but shorter than expected for a bottle of that price. An impression of alcohol hinders a bit at the end too. Probably this bottle needs some aeration to be able to develop all its qualities.

At the second tasting, this whisky revealed really all of its qualities. The nose is wonderfully smoky with some animal hints (meat) and some hints of walnuts, the whole being perfectly balanced. In the palate, a extraordinary feeling of happiness, due to the great complexity of the taste, covering the whole spectrum of possible tastes. Clearly salted notes with hints of meat juice followed by more spicy touches, but within a quite sugared register. A fantastic trip in the magical universe of taste. A very nice and very long finish, where liquorice hints are clearly present, mixed with leather notes amongst many others. Aeration was very good for this bottle.

Nice oily peat and floral notes characterize the nose. Some sea whiffs, seaweed and salt but little or no smoke, Beautiful farm hints, meat and leather. In the palate, this same peaty impression with some acidity behind it, dry bitter fruits, very rich taste palette perfectly melted in the dominating peat. :eat juice. Amazing density. The finish is particularly long and pleasant, essentially marked by the same notes as the nose and mouth were. A very homogenous whisky. A very spectacular one as well.

Back to summary table

Brora
21 years old
Rare Malts
1977-1998
Age
 21 years
Alcohol
 56,9°
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Brora Rare Malts 21 ans
Nose: Pungent, rich, oily. Peaty but also a lifted, almost floral top note. BIG. Chocolate and cream. Robustly elegant and increasingly complex as it opens.
Palate: A lovely mix of sweet and dry flavours. Very rich and mouth-coating. Almost briny: nuts, lemon, oil and gentle smoke underneath. Has weight and power.
Finish: Slight peppery kick.
Comment: A richly-flavoured malt with a punchy delivery. Another silent still. Bloody typical! (Dave Broom)
(Whisky Magazine)
A vegetal nose, pleasantly marked by spices (pepper) with dry hay notes and nice hints of fruit on the background. Exotic fruits, coconut together with pear and banana notes. Hints of smoke. Great complexity, just a great nose. The mouth also is complex, expressive with first a mix of slightly acid notes, spices and fine wood and than an evolution on meaty impressions. The lingering finish is spicy, very pleasant but with a clear alcohol marked character. Woody hints too.
Back to summary table
Brora: Independent bottlings
 

Brora
1981
Signatory Vintage
Age
 20 years
Alcohol
 43°
Particularity
 Single Cask
Bottler
 Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Brora 1981
The colour is amber. This version is full of character. The Islay mood is rather subtle in the palate, after having added some water. The taste is salty, slightly bitter.
A long and specially pleasant finish.
This bottle will make us think back nostalgically to this great distillery, unfortunately closed for good. This malt is just pleasure. A peaty malt from Highlands with just enough smoke. A great balance. A pleasant finish. The impression of pleasure remains for long minutes in the palate, and despite its price due to its rarity, this malt has its place in each good whisky collection..

The second tasting did not change the conclusions of the first one. A wonderful whisky from the Highlands, with all the characteristics of one from Islay, with some more peaty and smoky subtlety.

The nose detects peat mixed with some clear animal, leather flavours and may be also some old oak hints on the background. In the palate, it is rather oily, full of character and a subtle mix of citrus fruits and peat seams to dominate, with however a small regret about the percentage of alcohol which seems to give a kind of water-character to this whisky. A very nice finish, with some oily peat characteristics. This remains a very nice bottle.
 Back to summary table
 

Brora
1981
Signatory Un-chill filtered Collection
Age
 20 years
Alcohol
 46°
Particularity
 non chill filtered
Cask
 Sherry
Bottler
 Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 Brora unchill filtered
 
The Brora distillery is still present in the Highland landscape, even if it is closed since more than 20 years. It is currently used as a warehouse for the new Clynelish distillery.   
Whisky from the Brora distillery are more and more difficult to find (20 years after its closing), and the prices are growing. The malt is characterised by its peaty taste, which is rather uncommon for whiskies from the scottish continent. This Signatory edition is really nice, even if it is too expensive.

At the second tasting, the nose detected a strange mix of sweet freshness and some medicinal character. Some cut grass mixed with some peat. In the palate, sweetness quickly gives way to some slight acidity, but without any aggression. Some far hints of smoke, mixed with a discrete presence of sherry announce a rather long and very pleasant finish.

The nose, mix of honey, smoky peat and fresh cut grass is quite amazing. The mouth recognizes the same combination of peat and smoke, surrounding a honeyish smoothness with some remote citrus hints and is not really convincing, especially if one knows other productions of this distillery. The finish, in the same notes, is quite long.
 Back to summary table

Brora
Cask Strength Collection
1981

Age
 22 years
Alcohol
 56,4°
Particularity
 non chill filtered
single cask
Cask strength
Bottler
 Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
Brora 1981
A very nice nose, perfectly complex, from ripe fruit to clear animal notes, meat or new leather through interesting sherry hints, the whole being really sweet, with a kind of acidity at the end. In the palate, the first impression is rather dry, followed by slightly acid and fruity notes at the time, not marked by the strenght of the alcohol, and at the end a touch of peat. A warm and relatively long finish, where sherry notes are present together with some fruity hints, a bit hidden behind the strength of the alcohol, which was paradoxically absent in the mouth.
Back to summary table

Brora
The Platinum collection
1970 - 2002 Aged 32 years

Age
 32 years
Alcohol
 58,4°
Particularity
 non chill filtered
single cask
Cask strength
Bottler
 Douglas Laing
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Brora 32 Platinum collection
Immediately "Maritime" on the nose the body is both full and round. It leads to a salty and sea-weedy beach of a palate with an attractive pepperiess. Distinct similarities in this to a Talisker right through to the smoky and peppery finish - perhaps due to the shared maltings back then?

The nose is overrun by a strong salty and smoky wave. Despite the power of this wave, a great complexity and an exceptional spicy and peppery delicacy on a discrete woody background. In the palate, just perfection. Very slight acid notes quickly make room to very pleasant salty, peppery and spicy notes. A great freshness, despite the high degree of alcohol. An exceptionally long and pleasant finish. A very great and unusual sophistication! Really an unbelievable wonder. It is very hard not to give the absolute top quotation to this fantastic bottle.

A very expressive nose, somewhere between salt, pepper and peat smoke, but even much more. A hint of plum, liquorice and a remote impression of hay. A great balance of fragrances. In the palate, the first impression is a bit of dryness, but very soon a pleasant mix of peat with a hint of sweet citrus fruit (tangerine) appears, followed by some discrete woody hints, slightly dominated by pepper and spices, giving it an unusual complexity. A remarkable balance too, where all the impressions are clearly present, but where none of them clearly dominates the other ones. The finish is exceptionally long, and again characterized by this remarkable balance between fine and discrete wood, smoke and very discrete hints of citrus as well.

The nose is amazingly balanced and rich. Delicate but powerful peat, very fine smoky aromas (smoked ham) and no aggressiveness at all. The impression in the palate is immediately very complex. A mix of dry peat and citrus fruits with just a little acidity, but an unequaled  taste richness quite contrasting with the austerity of peat. Despite its great age, wood did not contaminate the taste of this great whisky. The finish is long and delicate. Nice memories of smoke, peat and some hints of citrus and of alcohol coming gently back to the palate.

 Back to summary table

Brora
Old Malt Cask
1982 - 2004 Aged 22 years

Age
 22 years
Alcohol
 50°
Particularity
 non chill filtered
single cask
Bottler
 Douglas Laing
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Brora OMC 1982
A nice presence of peat at the first nosing, meaty impressions, quite marked hints of fruit and touches of vanilla. Sherry notes as well, and after some aeration, some malty notes, the whole being nicely complex. In the mouth, a pleasant bitterness developing on slightly acid notes. First some nutty taste, followed by some developments on more something more acid, citrus?. Or even something in the mood of haring in vinegar with clear smoky hints. A very nice and complex mouth. A lingering and contrasted finish, from bitter unripe walnut notes to malty sweetness through memories of smoke.
Back to summary table

Brora
Provenance
1976 - 2002 Aged 26 years
Cask 742

Age
 26 years
Alcohol
 46°
Particularity
 non chill filtered
single cask
Bottler
 Douglas Laing
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Brora 26 ans provenance
With dry cologne and salt on the nose. The body is light, the palate heavy with peat, salt and pepperiness (quite Islay in style). The finish is long with less phenol, a hint of sweetness and a wip of tarry smoke.
(note of the bottler)
The nose is clearly floral, with a quite balanced mix of acid notes ant a nearly malty sweetness. A kind of complexity... without any exageration. The mouth is less expressive than the nose was, giving an impression of "weakness", despite the percentage of alcohol which should give a more expressive result. Some chocalate notes, mixed with some touches, between acidity and biterness. The palate is rather flat, which is surprising for a Brora of that age. However, some pepper hints. The finish is nice, long and somewhere between bitter chocolate and sweet malt. A nice whishy, however rather surprising for a Brora...
Back to summary table
Brora samples

Brora
Aged 30 years
Bottled in 2005
Fourth edition

Age
 30 ans
Alcohol
 56,3°
Bottler
 Officiel
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
The first nose is amazingly marked by clear cheese notes... Then it develops on farmy hints, wet hay and some peaty touches on the background. Quite an intense, nearly entrancing nose. The mouth is simply great. A marvelous mix of peat, smoke and wood. Spices too. Quite complex, pleasantly contrasted even if it remains on a rather uniform taste palette (in matching tones). The finish is even nice. Lingering and completing perfectly the mouth impressions.
Back to summary table

Northern Highlands

Northern Highlands map

Most of the distilleries of that area are settled on the wild and windy seaside between Narin and John 'O Groats, on the Eastern coast.

<< previous distillery << >> next distillery >>

Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information about the Northern Highlands area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow

38 - 5