Three ‘first glimpse’ limited edition malts | Various ABV

Balance

Ahhh. The solution to every problem. Yet always just a little out of reach. Applied to any scenario, it is the ultimate answer for the majority of challenges posed in our daily lives. Consciously or not, we seek it at every moment.

Yet it’s given little chance. We either actively change the goalposts ourselves, or outside influences in our lives change the demands upon us. Balance remains frustratingly nebulous. In the end, what’s required is flexibility; an ability to adapt. Which is a talent I personally wish I was better endowed with.

However, in my love of whisky exploration, these are concepts that never troubled me. Personally, whisky was always something to escape with and follow at my whim. Any direction, any style, any time. Whatever felt appropriate, whatever might fit the mood, I’d simply follow.

Consequences were minimal and everything was fun.

Eventually, however, whisky sank its claws in deep and I became a tool to spread its word and share my own personal experiences; with any poor soul who dared to show me the dimmest flicker of interest. I was filled with desire to shed light on whisky possibilities with anyone engaged enough to learn a wee bit more. In polite circles you might suggest it was enthusiasm and a desire for advocacy, in truth it was often tub-thumping; bullying whoever was within range.

Without balance ‘whisky enthusiast’ could quickly become ‘whisky bore’. I needed to change the tone a little, and find more appropriate outlets. I needed to adapt, maybe. Or at least find places where my position could find a little more balance. You might suggest I was deliberately moving my own personal goal posts.

I am very fortunate to have found Dramface and its merry band of willing advocates and a simply brilliant and devoted readership. It’s been huge fun and - even when the words are as amateurish as you read today - many find value in the experiences we share.

Yet, there’s a demand here that can take a toll. There’s a pressure to find a balance in everything we do. When you have opinions on the product of others and you build a space on the interwebs to share them with all who harbour a desire and a network connection to read them, you’d best take a balanced approach. Especially when we’re clocking over two million pageviews each year.

Consequences may be significant and anything can become serious.

However, when all is said and done, we’re just another outlet where a team has assumed a position and built a space to share its opinions. We’re very confident of them, but humility and awareness need to stay a part of the discussion. We attempt this earnestly; in the pursuit of balance, of course.

Fortunately, we spin in circles where every aspect of whisky - especially today - is forced to find the balance points of its own: price versus quality, flavour, presentation, messaging, production and present versus future. A silver lining in the slightly cloudy whiskyscape of mid-2026 is that, in my personal opinion, whisky is as good as it’s ever been. And it’s getting better.

While there’s always been poor whisky, and a need to guard against wasting money on it, for sure it still manifests in pockets today; but in general it’s rare to find objectively bad stuff bottled these days.

Reputation is hard fought for and built over time. In such a competitive landscape carelessness can be costly and reputation can also be quickly tarnished, or lost altogether. It’s incumbent on everyone to continually strive for that ever-elusive balance: good whisky, that makes money, that makes more good whisky, that makes more money.

And of course, adapting all the while along the way. Not for greed or pure profit, in itself, but for endurance. The ability to prevail; to demonstrate that what’s good today can be assured to be at least as good tomorrow. Ensuring the next generation can benefit at least as much as we do takes effort and certainly a long time.

How long, exactly, in whisky? Honestly, I’m not sure. But I might suggest that, as may be demonstrated through the three blind whiskies I’m about to share with you today, it’s about twenty-five years.

Review 1/3

Bruichladdich 25th Anniversary Preview, Limited edition, Batch 25_01, 50% ABV
£unknown, preview release

It’s been mentioned many times, but in our desire to find balance when reviewing things that are offered to us for review - samples or full bottles - we use the DDS: the Dramface Deflection System.

That’s not a real thing, but someone mentioned it once and it stuck with me. The function is real though. For example, a brand reaches out to me and, as an intermediary via the writer’s collective, I arrange for an anonymous delivery to someone willing to take on the consideration of a review. The theory being that - remaining outside of the transaction - the writer is able to approach things as freely as possible.

The problem with it is, of course, that I rarely get those opportunities. Unless, that is, I take them.

That would be true on this occasion. I took these. I fancied this one. I intended to write about them ages ago; I believe I’ve had them since March. Balance has eluded me.

From what I can glean from this small pack of three samples, Bruichladdich are planning staggered releases to celebrate the 25th Anniversary since the revival of the distillery in 2001. It looks to be driven by Master Blender Adam Hannett and, based on my limited yet positive opinions on his work to date, I was keen to explore these. Spoilers: I’m also very glad I kept them for myself.

I should state that these are fully blind. There are no details on the packaging or bottles and we are invited to try as a ‘first glimpse’ of three limited-edition releases. Maybe at some point someone will share what they are, in the meantime we can try to match up the ABVs against their limited releases throughout the year ahead, I suppose.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Well-made and delicious, especially with a drop of water*

Nose

Immediately dense and ‘thick’. This one works best with a splash of water, but neat first: lightly spiced with ripe fruits - sweet orchard, waxy citrus and some soft stone fruit. Creamy barley and biscuits too, with vanilla pods, elderflower and a distant saltiness. A sense of creaminess prevails throughout, even after water is added.

Palate

Honeyed arrival, lovely texture and gentle spice. Peaches, apricots, sweet lemon, everything has a waxy edge. Lightly fizzy too, applesauce and elderflower once more. Creamy again.

Adding water is to be recommended for this one. It opens everything nicely and better accesses the fruitiness and softens everything into a well-poised and well-made whisky.

Wally Bruichladdich 25th Anniversary Preview Trio_4530.jpg

Wally Bruichladdich 25th Anniversary Preview Trio_4524.jpg

The Dregs

A lovely and confident whisky. There is an ‘edge’ at first approach, but patience, additional sips and - especially - a few drops of water bring everything in the glass together. It’s actually great fun to sip neat and then add the water to enjoy the whisky changing in front of your face.

My guess is that this is an early-teens bottling and, based on the experience in the glass, I’d pay up to £75 for the quality. Take from that what you will, but we’ll hopefully be mindful enough to update this piece as future releases become apparent and we discover what lies ahead.

As a start, this is very good indeed.

Edit update: It turns out this one has already been released. This is, in fact, The Bruichladdich Old Skool 10 year old reviewed previously by Nick, Ramsay and Murdo.

Our tasting notes have clear differences - but also some significant overlap - and scores are similar.

Score: 7/10

Review 2/3

Bruichladdich 25th Anniversary Preview, Limited edition, Batch 25_02, 54.2% ABV
£unknown, preview release

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*Poised, balanced and well-made whisky to savour*

Nose

Fruity once more, but we have a darker and richer affair, with coffee grinds, oak spice and a little wood polish - waxy once more.

Palate

Lovely. There’s a clear European oak quality to this for me, in no way overly tannic, but a harmonious addition of light oak-derived spices like nutmeg and soft pepper adding a nice layer to darker fruits such as figs, fudgy dates and red berries. There’s a little brown sugar too, with that ground coffee edge.

Water splits every sip into something a little different, hinting at a complexity that could keep the curious mind occupied for further pours.

The Dregs

Clearly a well-made and - dare I say again - balanced whisky. Reminiscent of Bruichladdich’s 18 year old Re/Define, which I remain in love with. I have no real confidence in placing this in terms of age, but I think it could be similar or a nudge older than our opening dram. Let’s go with 14 years old (ish) and worth a few quid more than Batch 25_01. If this was in the realm of £95 or less I’d be very keen.

Very well-made whisky.

Score: 8/10

Review 3/3

Bruichladdich 25th Anniversary Preview, Limited edition, Batch 25_03, 51.8% ABV
£unknown, preview release

Score: 9/10

**Exceptional.**
***TL;DR***
*Please be affordable*

Nose

Oh. We’re in a different space here. And I like it very much.

Okay… Hay loft, dunnage and yet more wax, once again. Soft tropical fruits too: star fruit, lychees, sweet pineapple - all hinting towards some careful long-aged spirit from refill ‘distillery’ wood.

With water the fruit takes on a fruit pastilles, confectionary edge. A lovely, lovely nose that demands some contemplative reverence.

In my experience, this is exactly the kind of nose that can only be achieved consistently through patience and cool climate in ‘quiet’ wood. In other words; good Scotch.

Palate

Decadence. Assured and utterly gentle too. Gentle tropical fruit, yellow and white. It’s somehow precise and slightly dry, yet gorgeously coating and juicy at the same time. Wild.

With water the fruit and wax swim together to offer up a lovely, soft, whispering suggestion that you’ll sit with this for an hour. And probably pour another.

There are some whiskies where you struggle with individual flavour notes to write down, you give up on finding things that it ‘tastes like’ and find yourself drawn to superlatives instead. This is one of those. It’s bloody great.

Add any superlative you like.

The Dregs

I’ll guess this is mostly made up from refill wood and I also think this is well-aged whisky. Maybe I’ll go further and suggest I may not be able to afford this. It’s special. I’d love some.

Let’s go with twenty-plus years old, refill hoggies and comfortably in triple figures of British Sterlings. Who knows. Maybe we’ll get lucky.

But this is epic.

Score: 9/10

The Final Dregs

Yes, I looked for a lactic thread in all of these. I am only moderately sensitive to such traits. Maybe, on another day, sipped in contrast with another spirit, I might find it. But it’s not apparent in these, not today. Everything is beautifully clean and vivid. I’m not put off by lactic themes in whisky, but sometimes it can be prohibitive for enjoyment. Some Bruichladdich’s of the past have tested my tolerance.

That’s not relevant at all today.

In fact, what really surprises me is a purity and a ‘waxiness’ throughout. For full disclosure I tried these over three small pours. Initially, when I poured for the photos (apologies, samples are very difficult to photograph!), then again after dinner later on the same day. Today, I’m sitting here with tiny sips on an empty stomach and they’re singing. These are three good whiskies. One of them is truly great.

All have been lifted by a point this morning too. They deserve the time, the patience and the application of balance. Of course, if they’re released and it becomes apparent that the prices are abusively high or any other troublesome issues, I’ll be quick to hop in here and edit this appraisal. The cost doesn’t matter to everyone and many would prefer it’s left out of the equation altogether. I do not feel that way. The cost matters to me.

Whatever, the future will betray what these are and we’ll make sure we return and re-tag the article if we need to when they’re released. For me, it’s another demonstration of the growing quality, confidence and capability being demonstrated by Bruichladdich. The trajectory of the output is astonishingly positive, and I do feel it’s an astute product of adaptation to the demands of where we find whisky today.

They’ve had their fans for years, but they’re no longer a cult of renaissance for those who know. It may be true to say that the Octomore and Port Charlotte brands remain a little lofty in aspiration and price, but that is remarkably less so the case on the Bruichladdich-labelled liquid. It has become an established beacon of great quality spirit and an ever-improving range of solid and assured reliability.

We might even suggest they’re chasing a perfect balance. The year ahead will reveal what these are. I’m here for it.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc

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