Review #950 - Bruichladdich 14 Year Yellow Submarine [Reclassified]

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the reinvigoration of their distillery, Bruichladdich released 3 limited edition whiskies in 2026: a 10 year Old Skool, a 15 year Greener Still, and this 14 year Yellow Submarine. These are all unpeated single malt expressions, and each one uses a slightly different cask recipe for maturation, though the focus always seems to be on ex-bourbon casks.

This is actually the 3rd iteration of Bruichladdich's Yellow Submarine release. After the discovery of a literal yellow submersible in the waters near Bruichladdich distillery, the brand paid homage with a 'Yellow Submarine' bottling back in 2005 as the 2nd part of their Whisky of Mass Distinction (WMD) series; Yellow Submarine II (WMD III) was released in 2018 with an age statement of 25 years. Now, in 2026, we have this 3rd version.

For this current 'Reclassified' 14 year version of Yellow Submarine (which goes back to the same age statement as the original Yellow Sub release), 75% of the spirit was matured in first fill ex-bourbon casks, in line with that strategy of highlighting the distillate character in these releases. However, the other 25% of the batch was matured in Bordeaux red wine casks, specifically a mixture of first fill and second fill casks.

The bottling strength has been bumped up to a healthy 54.2% ABV compared to the 46% ABV of the other WMD releases - let's get into it.

Bruichladdich 14 Year Yellow Submarine [Reclassified]

Scotland/Islay - Single Malt

Price: USD 140 (2026)

Age Statement: 14 Years

Strength: 54.2% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon and first fill and second fill Bordeaux red wine casks

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; bottled 2026

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 1 month; bottles at 100%, 90%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: To start, we get some starchy grains - malty, but also a decent amount of Bruichladdich character with subtle creamy or lactic notes and some drying oak. Toasted bread, orange peel, and grain funk build, and we also get sweetness from yellow apples and waxy honeycomb. Water brings much more sweet fruit: peaches especially, as well as honey, buttered croissants, and some dank, earthy notes.

Palate: Malty with good, oily texture. A plethora of orchard fruits dominate: tart lemon candies, tangy fresh peach, sweet and sour apples. We also get fizzy pineapple, star fruit, and a bit of tinned peach; drying oak tannins and some estery barley character build. Water brings out strong plum notes and a bit of honey; it's nice and warming.

Finish: Honeycomb, white wine, lots of lemons, tangy stone fruit; it's nicely cozy with that strength, and we also get sour green apples, drying oak, vanilla, and whole wheat bread. Red apples, savory grilled chicken and orange peel, mulchy notes, and hints of lychee linger in the aftertaste; water mellows this dram out and brings more sweetness.

Final Note: We're enjoying this new Bruichladdich release, but when we first opened it, we were hoping for a little bit more. Now, with some air time in the glass and bottle, this is opening up nicely, and the addition of a few drops of water to a dram makes a dramatic difference. Texture is good, there's a nice oak influence as well, but mostly this is all about a variety of fruit flavors: apples, peaches, oranges, lemons, and many more.

There's a good combination of different aspects of the flavor palette as well - sweetness, bitterness, some light savory notes, and also a bit of sour flavor coming from the fruit. This bottle has a lot of complexity, and each time we go back to it, it brings something unique. This is a very good whisky that you can dig into for a long time.

As for our value score, this is sitting on the low end of average for us due to the not-inexpensive price of $140 to $150. It has already gotten hard to find, too, and secondary/auction prices are sitting even higher; that said, we think it's worth a purchase if you can get it around the suggested retail price.

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.78

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.