The Royal Brackla holds a claim to fame that few Scottish distilleries can match, which is the royal warrant it was granted in 1835 by King William IV that allowed the distillery to use the “royal” adjective as part of the name (the other two are Royal Lochnagar in 1848 and the now closed Glenury Royal). Founded in 1817, Royal Brackla has run mostly uninterrupted for over 200 years. Like many distilleries, it shut down briefly due to world wars or market surpluses and has gone through several changes in ownership but has never been dormant for long. Its output has long gone into blends and thus not received much individual attention. That changed in 2015, however, when current owner Dewar’s released a range of single malts. This Royal Brackla 12 is from the spring of 2020, when the core range was relaunched to comprise a 12, 18 and 21 year age statements.
Distillery: Royal Brackla
Region: Highland
Age: 12 years
Strength: 46%
Price: $59.99
Maturation: ex-bourbon and ex-rye barrels
Location: Nairn
Nose: Honey, apple blossom, white pepper
Palate: Honey, green peat, floral, lemon, milk chocolate
Finish: Honey, iodine, fruit
Comments: Water tamps down many of the delicate flavors. Liquor chain Total Wine also has their own expression of Royal Brackla.
Adam – I have to make note of my first impression: the cork for this bottle is unexpectedly heavy, of at least a weight I haven’t seen outside of a premium Teeling offering. The cork doesn’t make a whisky but coupled with the wide-lipped bottle, I was already intrigued. The Royal Brackla 12 feels like a quintessential Highland malt to me, at least it has many of the components I appreciate. A lacquered honey that doesn’t overshadow some floral qualities on both the nose and the tongue, with a little nip of iodine and fruitiness on the finish. Lovely to enjoy but also rewards examination. There are some great unexpected notes of white pepper on the nose and lemon on the palate that add to the fruits and flowers that I enjoy so much in Highland whiskies.
Meghan – It tastes like a honey-lemon Ricolla cough drop. It has the honey, the sweet lemon, the herbal, the little bit of medicinal. A liquid form of that. Luckily it’s a really great cough drop! It’s hitting all of the notes. It would be a great single malt for someone looking to jump into from blends. This is a lot more interesting than a Glenlivet or Glenfiddich at the same age.
It’s like the first bite of spring.
Michael – I get this milk chocolate on the tip of my tongue, almost chocolate milk. It’s a very light flavor. As I drink the Royal Brackla 12, there are a lot of other flavors that come of it, but that’s a highlight.
Ben – Like walking through the botanical gardens. There is some pepper. It is familiar, in a way that brings you into the scotch family.
Kate – It’s like the first bite of spring. I can see why the Royal Brackla got the royal warrant.
Henry – Normally I like to deconstruct a whisky, to line up all the elements. But not this. I just love the whole of it, from beginning to end. A Highland bordering on a Speyside. Like a blend on steroids.
