Estimated retail price: $159 per bottle
We will pour an ounce for $4.50
Murray McDavid is an independent bottler of sorts. I say “of sorts” because Murray McDavid is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bruichladdich Distillery. What this means is that Bruichladdich’s master distiller, Jim McEwan, purchases barrels of whisky from other distilleries, finishes the aging and bottling himself and then releases them under the Murray McDavid label.
Unlike many, so called, “Merchant Bottlers” Murray McDavid never blends, but releases only single malts. While they don’t blend whisky from different distilleries, they don’t ever bottle single-casks. They prefer to dump several carefully chosen casks at a time for consistency. While I like single cask bottlings, they certainly do achieve whisky of great complexity and finesse with these small-batch bottlings.
Murray McDavid never adds any coloring (a surprisingly common practice), nor do they chill filter. All bottlings are with Islay Spring water, bottled at the Bruichladdich distillery.
Islay has always been one of my favorite whisky producing regions and Caol Ila is fast becoming one of my favorite distilleries on the island. This particular batch was finished in wine barrels from Château Haut-Brion. Wine barrels work a particular magic on peaty whisky like this one. I can’t wait to open it this evening. I hope you’ll join me.
Tonight, I will open one bottle at precisely 6:30. When it's gone, it's gone.
Next Week in The Spirits Project: 1999 Rum from Panama
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