After Aultmore, I am looking at another one of Dewar’s/Bacardi under-the-radar distilleries with this review of the Royal Brackla 12 year old Sherry cask finish. As for Tamdhu 12 just a few days ago, I expected a Sherry forward bottle and got something else. This dram might be skirting the sherry cask space rather than being dead in the thick of it, depending on your tolerance to the cask influence.
TL:DR: A combo dram – a big sherry punch to start, mellowing into a gentle ex-bourbon caress
Vote*: 7, Very good stuff
Hail to thee, Dram of Cawdor!
In the Royal Brackla stands out as one of only three distilleries to carry the “Royal” word in its name, thanks to a royal warrant awarded by William IV in 1835. Although the distillery does not hold a royal warrant anymore, it is still allowed to use the word. If you are puzzled as to why… I am too, yet not enough to research why. But then I am not someone who is fascinated by royalty and their anachronistic fashions. I am more in the Monthy Python “who made you king” camp. The fact that the distillery is on the grounds of Cawdor castle, and therefore connected to Sheakspeare’s Scottish play, is significantly more interesting to me. Too bad it cannot be visited, something that hopefully will change at some point
Founded in 1812, Royal Brackla has had its fair share of struggles in the XX century, with three periods of closure in the 50 year span from 1940 to 1990. After that time, and until the acquisition by Dewar’s/Bacardi in 1997, it was overwhelmingly used for blending. The only way to sample it as a single malt was as an Independently Bottled spirit or in the Flora and Fauna series. Nonetheless, Royal Brackla built a reputation for being a fresh, fruity and grassy/floral spirit thanks to its production process. Long fermentations and distillation conditions encouraging reflux make for an ester-rich new make
Royal Brackla, revamped
While blending remains a major destination for the spirit produced here, Bacardi has made efforts to establish the brand, especially after the launch of the new original lineup launched in 2021. The new Sherry finished lineup includes today’s dram, the Oloroso finished 12 year old, the PX finished 18 year old and finally the Palo Cortado finished 21 year old. The new lineup was allegedly delayed by the pandemic and finally launched in 2021. The switch to this new Sherry finished lineup also coincided with going for an integrity presentation. No more 40%, chill-filtered and caramel-coloured whiskies under the Royal Brackla brand and master Distiller Stephanie Macleod.
This change was applauded by whisky aficionados, yet, after some initial noise, this is a brand that seems to continue to live under the radar. Does the Royal Brackla brand deserve more attention?
Royal Brackla 12 year old Sherry cask finish
Specs
Price paid: 49.90€
Lot/bottled date: L23136ZA500
ABV: 46%
Natural colour: Yes
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: ex-bourbon plus Oloroso cask finish.
Tasting Notes
Colour: A nice rich amber hue.
Nose: The start is very sherry-forward, almost a Sherry bomb even. Notes of toffee, figs, fruitcake, a hint of mocha, spice (nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom) and a touch of walnuts. And yet, after the Sherry punch, it rapidly reveals some more spirit-forward character. Fresh and sweet with lemon drops and lemon peel, apple, melon, pear, a hint of dunnage and ash. As it opens up there is also some malted barley grist, a faint floral note and a touch of mint syrup. Leaving the whisky in the glass for over an hour I kept getting alternating waves of sherry and bourbon+spirit notes
Taste: Medium body. Immediately oily and sweet.The main taste is of intense malt notes. Then some milder Sherry influence with some spice, milk chocolate and figs, finishing on a fresh lemon note.
Finish: Medium lengths. The aftertaste is sweet and sour, with caramel, lemon peel and a touch of mocha, spices, pear and vanilla.
Vote: 7, Very good stuff. Another Dewar’s/Bacardi dram which shows a lot of elegance and complexity. The mix of Sherry cask, Bourbon cask and spirit aromas might not be fully cohesive but it makes for a damn enjoyable sipper.
* Votes are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
Conclusions
I wrote and scrapped this conclusion at least three times. Initially, I was leaning towards judging this whisky purely as an example of ex-sherry cask spirit, which would probably have penalised it somewhat in the voting. The more I tried this whisky, the less that gelled with me. Outside of not falling neatly into the category I arbitrarily had assigned it to, this is a whisky I very much enjoyed. I finally managed to find the wrap-up I felt was fair once I went back to complete the list of other suggested reviews and noticed something.
Initial reviews for this new version of the Royal Brackla 12 describe a much stronger Sherry imprint on the whisky. So maybe my assumption wasn’t misplaced. Yet, if this was the case, the whisky seems to have changed. I do wonder if the more recent batches have been toned down to make the spirit shine through more. Be as it may, while the sherry is noticeable, there is a good balance between the two influences, if not a completely cohesive one. The bourbon/spirit character and sherry one seem to chase each other rather than coming together as a cohesive identity. Still, this is definitely a bottle I will keep on my shelf. It is a great everyday dram and I hope Dewar’s continues to invest in both Royal Brackla and Aultmore,
I always find it interesting, after writing my tasting notes, to look at other opinions. Not a lot of coverage on this one, nonetheless here are a few other reviews of the Royal Brackla 12 year old Sherry cask I enjoyed:
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