Head to head · same category, comparable price
Ardbeg 10 Year Old vs Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years
They diverge on 3 of our eight axes, most of all peaty, 9 against 2.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Ardbeg 10 Year Old | Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Islay, Scotland |
| Age | 10 years | 10 years |
| Strength | 46% ABV | 50% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon barrel | First-fill and refill ex-bourbon American oak, ex-wine casks |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £48 | £46 |
| Per 10cl | £6.86 | £6.57 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £149 | £131 |
| Chill-filtered | No | No |
What separates them
Both Islay whiskies, from different distilleries.
Both state 10 years.
Cask as each producer describes it: Ardbeg 10 Year Old in ex-bourbon barrel, Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years in first-fill and refill ex-bourbon american oak and ex-wine casks.
Neither is chill-filtered.
Colour: Ardbeg 10 Year Old natural colour, Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years natural colour.
What the price buys
Ardbeg 10 Year Old is £2.00 dearer a bottle than Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years.
Strength keeps that ordering: £131 a litre of pure alcohol for Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years against £149.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Ardbeg 10 Year Old is 18th cheapest and Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years 14th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Ardbeg 10 Year Old | Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 9 | 2 |
| Sweet | 3 | 6 |
| Fruity | 4 | 7 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 4 | 5 |
| Sherried | 1 | 3 |
| Cereal | 4 | 6 |
| Oily | 7 | 7 |
3 of the eight axes clear 3 points; after peaty comes sweet at 3 against 6 and fruity at 4 against 7.
Identical on spicy and oily.
Each bottle in its own right
Ardbeg 10 Year Old
Tar, lime and soot, then a long smoked-vanilla finish. Bracing rather than comfortable.
Ardbeg's own page states the whisky is matured solely in ex-bourbon casks and is non-chill filtered, with no sherry component at all — unusual for a flagship Islay malt. It is bottled at 46% where most competitors at the price sit at 40%.
Full record →Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years
Barley sugar, sea air and citrus at a proper 50%. Unpeated Islay, which surprises people.
Now carries a 10-year age statement — it was NAS 'Scottish Barley' for years and most sites still publish it that way. Every bottle prints a recipe code that unlocks the exact cask-by-cask recipe and barley origin for that batch, batch disclosure no other major Scotch brand offers. Bottled at 50% rather than the usual 40-46%, which the producer states explicitly.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Ardbeg 10 Year Old for first serious peated malt and value at 46%, Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years for value at 50%, transparency and unpeated islay.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Ardbeg 10 Year Old and Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years: ardbeg.com, bruichladdich.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.