The Royal Brackla distillery is located in the Speyside area, at least
according to whisky writer (not the child molester) Michael Jackson.
Most other whisky writers place Brackla (the 'Royal' is optional) in the
Northern Highlands region and it seems that most malt maniacs agree.

Royal Brackla remained in the hands of the Fraser family until it was sold to John Mitchell & James Leict of Aberdeen in 1898 who rebuilt the distillery. John Bisset & Co Ltd. from Aberdeen bought Royal Brackla in 1926 and sold it to SMD in 1943. The distillery was rebuilt again in 1965/1966, at which point they switched from direct firing of the stills to internal heating. In 1970 the number of stills was expanded from two to four. Fifteen years later, in 1985, Brackla was closed.

Royal Brackla may be a relatively 'low profile' distillery, but it is linked to one of the biggest 'inventions' in the whisky world: blended whisky. An Edinburgh merchant by the name of Andrew Usher joined the company in the 1860's and used the Brackla malt for the very first blends.

Brackla 6yo 1994/2000 (43%, McGibbon's Provenance, D. winter 1994, B. winter 2000)
Nose: Phew! Oily and grainy. Clean. Hint of peat? Nice enough, but not a lot of character.
Taste: Flat and mostly devoid of character. Hint of peat in the finish - I didn't expect that.
Score: 70 points - not bad at all for such a young malt, but it's no high flyer either.
They should have left this cask alone for a while longer.

Royal Brackla NAS 1983 (57.5%, The Whisky Connoisseur)
Nose: Hey, there's an unexpected surprise: peat! And lots of it. I like it a lot.
That's really odd - I didn't know they produced peat monsters at Royal Brackla...
Very, very nice; meaty and salty with organics and some smoke.
Taste: Very 'phenolic' on the palate as well - especially in the start.
Not quite as well crafted as the nose, but still very pleasant.
Score: 86 points - but I wondered if this could be a mislabeled - or even fake? - bottling.
Some Highland distilleries (like Brora for example) produced peated malts, but a.f.a.i.k. not Brackla.

Royal Brackla 16yo 1984/2001 (43%, Coopers Choice).
Nose: Polished. Fruity and nutty. Melon. Sweetish. Very pleasant, but a little nondescript.
Sweetish. Fruity elements grow stronger over time, but the overall impression isn't very intense.
Taste: Not very strong in the start. Coffee in the centre? Hint of sherry.
After some breathing, the burn seems to grow stronger. Long finish.
Score: 79 points - a decent single malt in the 'classic' style, but not a lot of personality.

Royal Brackla 20yo 1978/1998 (59.8%, UDRM, Bottle #3887).
Quite grainy and spicy. It seems remarkably flat for its strength. After a minute more power.
Given enough time, the nose blossoms. More fruits and more sherried with an enticing hint of smoke.
After diluting it to +/- 40%, it showed more fruity notes - light, fresh fruits. 
Taste: it starts very bitter, but gradually became sweeter and smoother.
A bit like choco-rum. Oak and tannin in the finish.

Royal Brackla 27yo 1975/2003 (46%, Murray McDavid Mission II, Refill Sherry Cask)
Nose: Very lemony at first, growing noticably farmier with more organics over time.
Taste: Solid. Apart from some apple flavours I couldn't get a lot of distinct characteristics.
It feels very good on the palate though; I had to keep myself from pouring another dram.
Score: 85 points - but the location (Claggan House on Islay) and company (PLOWED) helped.
 

Check out my Track Record for a complete and up-to-date overview of all 'siplings' I've tried.
 
 

Royal Brackla was founded in 1812 by Captain Willian Fraser of Brackla.
After operating under the name 'Brackla' for more than twenty years
the distillery earned the right to carry the 'Royal' prefix in 1835 when
they became suppliers to the court of King William IV. Obviously, the
king didn't consume enough whisky, because he died of pneumonia two
years later in 1837, leaving the throne of Great Britain to queen Victoria.

These days, most of the malt whisky produced at Royal Brackla is still used for
blended whiskies like Johnnie Walker Gold Label and the various Dewar's blends.
However, apart from OB's released by United Distillers the occasional bottle
from independent bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail becomes available as well.

If you happen to be in the area for a distillery visit, the nearby 'Cawdor Castle'
(made famous by one William Shakespeare as the place where Macbeth allegedly
killed King Duncan) might be worth a detour. It dates from the late 14th century
but most buildings were added later. (For more info: www.cawdorcastle.com.)

The distillery reopened again in 1991 and was licensed to John Bisset & Co Ltd. in 1992. In 1993 a semi-official 10yo 'Fauna & Flora' bottling (see label below) was released by United Distillers and in 1998 a 'UD Rare Malts' bottling at 20yo became available. In the same year the Royal Brackla distillery was sold to John Dewar & Sons (subsidiary of the Bacardi). To the best of my knowledge, John Dewar & Sons haven't released an official bottling of Royal Brackla yet.

A 10yo official bottling of Royal Brackla was released in 2004, but when I write this (August 2005) I've only tried five different expressions of Royal Brackla and that one wasn't among them. All expressions I've 'seriously' tried myself scored around 80 points, so it seems like they know what they are doing there in Cawdor.

Trivia about Royal Brackla:  In 1835 William IV granted Brackla the right to carry the name 'Royal' Brackla. It was the first of three distilleries to earn that distinction, the others being Glenury Royal and Royal Lochnagar .