The 18 Year Old expands Royal Brackla's permanent range with greater age and a heavier sherry hand. Like its 12-year sibling, it leans on the distillery's historical association with sherry casks — a connection reinforced by its position in John Dewar & Sons' Last Great Malts of Scotland range, launched from 2014 onward.
Royal Brackla was founded in 1812 by Captain William Fraser on the Cawdor estate in Nairnshire, and in 1835 became the first Scotch distillery to be granted a royal warrant. That warrant, from William IV, gave the whisky a status no rival could claim, and the prefix "Royal" remains rare in Scotch even today — only three distilleries hold it.
This bottling is matured in ex-bourbon casks then finished in first-fill oloroso sherry butts, bottled at 46% without chill filtration. The nose is rich and confident: raisin, dark chocolate, oak and orange. The palate carries fig, walnut and cinnamon, the sherry shaping rather than smothering the underlying Highland fruit. The finish is long and softly tannic.
For a distillery whose spirit was for so long known only to Dewar's blenders, this 18 is a serious official statement — one that finally lets the King's Own Whisky speak with the weight its history suggests.
