B Corp status is really taking off around the world, with over 4,700 businesses signed up covering about 400,000 employees in over 80 countries. It is cross industry, and therefore many readers may have encountered the status outside of whisky. There are as many organisations aiming to grant independent certification as corporations looking to virtue signal and sign up. For me, the most important aspect of the B Corp status that elevates it above other certifying bodies is that it requires legal changes in the business’ articles of incorporation to require the business to look for benefits for all stakeholders not just the shareholders. Stays fairly consistent regardless of water. Long and oaky, a little bitter along with some residual malt.

They’re also unusual in how they produce their products themselves. Unlike the neighbouring distilleries on the island, the entire range is made without peat. Instead, local barley is pushed to the fore and each batch is unique. The recipe is, ‘not set in stone’ and they’re ‘never striving for absolute consistency’. Just to preface, this whisky definitely needs a little water added, maybe enough to bring it down to 46% or so. I'll include notes both with and without below.Finish: Medium long. Delicately sweet, with only a balancing spot of charcoal bitterness. Evolves through light fruits – dried – nondescript florals, and then fades with a note that I can only describe as peach gummy rings. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.

Composing each unique recipe is a rigorous process. Adam must systematically sample and evaluate every spirit by nose, taste and mouthfeel. The B on the Bruichladdich logo obviously stands for Bruichladdich, but now it can also stand for “B Corp.” B Corp has absolutely no impact on the flavour of your whisky, but it can impact on how warmly you feel about the brand. I had previously been a little withering about the green status of Bruichladdich and the speed of change to reach net-zero in comparison to some of the other distillers. However, going green is only one small aspect of what makes a company a force for good or a force for evil. Bruichladdich (pronounced like ‘brookladdie’), is a distillery doing things differently. Based on Islay, a southern island of the Inner Hebrides, they are the first company of their kind in Europe to become a ‘BCorp’. What does that mean? Well, without getting into the nitty gritty, Bruichladdich meet an incredibly high standard of social and environmental performance. They’re a progressive, forward-thinking company with a focus on the world around them as much as their liquid.

The result has been a thrilling array of releases that probe questions serious whisky drinkers have pondered for eons. How important are age statements, really? Is there an upper limit to peating? An upper limit to transparency? How much of barley’s flavor comes from where it’s grown? What about ancient barley varieties? And what responsibility does the whisky industry have to support grain growing practices that take the environment into account? How about its responsibility to the community at large? Never striving for absolute consistency, each batch of The Classic Laddie will, by nature, be unique and subtly different.

We bottle our Classic Laddie at 50% alcohol by volume as opposed to the average of 40-46%. The flavour of our spirit at 50% ABV is barley forward, meaning you taste more of the Scottish malt we have worked hard to trace. We will not stretch our spirit and compromise on quality for the sake of profit. Bruichladdich talk of a 20-year journey to become a company worthy of certification, which certainly puts the efforts to get this far into in context. It’s also clear that there is a significant commitment to the resources to monitor all the work being done, to ensure that year on year performance is achieved and there is evidence to prove it. Palate: Viscous but not quite syrupy body. A moderate tongue burn – consistent with 50% ABV – is followed by unctuous dripping honey, peach jelly, buttered scones, and more golden raisins. On subsequent tastes, the red wine elements are a little clearer – redder fruits and jammy port wine. Very tasty. Despite the transparency of cask make up the only the youngest of those ages is legally allowed to be identified according to the SWA regulations. In this case the youngest component makes up roughly 46% of the total number of casks. 2011 making the youngest component about 8 years old, in line with similar distilleries NAS output. Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley – Review Living Wage employment, a 5-10% bonus scheme shared for 100% of our staff, annual cost of living adjustments as well we private healthcare, life assurance provisions and 34 days paid annual leave as standard. We’re also a diverse employer with a sound training and development program, including 50%+ female management and an age range of staff spanning from 19 to 75 years of age.”This dram needs some time in the glass and the fastidious application of water to get the most out of it, but if you find the sweet spot the complexity is really great. The top-dressing casks help tame the youthful base spirit, given time to open up both the sherry casks and red wine casks add discernible layers to the spirit. Score: 6/10 It’s a bit of a task, albeit an enjoyable one, to dig through the layers, because they’re all really quite deep and full of rich nuggets. From the rudiments, like finding out that there’s regions in Scotch whisky and the differences between blends and single malts, you uncover cask types, distilling processes, malt preparations, cask finishes and what all those things actually mean. The deeper you go, the more there is to learn and before you know it, you’re asking questions about what the still shape does to the characteristic of a new-make spirit. As each thud of the spade hits the soil, you are sure in your mind that you’ll soon hit more nuggets, because there’s just so much rich whisky history to discover. For a long time I managed to dig around the peaty layer, because I foolishly thought it would be awful; tearing the fragile grip I finally had on whisky after all these years of wanting to love it. I also thought drinking smoke sounded shite. Recently I was invited to take part in a marketing campaign for Bruichladdich’s Octomore 11 series, which went well enough that Bruichladdich asked me to work on the sequel: A discussion of Bruichladdich’s Transparency Campaign “No Hidden Measures”. While that piece of work was sponsored, the following blog post was not, and although I received the review bottle for free (perks!) my review below is my own and was not influenced by (or published in) the campaign. The credibility of any reviewer is besmirched when they take industry money, but we can’t all be pure as the driven snow like Ralfy, so I leave it up to my readers to decide if my words are trustworthy or not. (Please don’t leave me…)