Big thanks to LOL_OILERS from Reddit for pouring me this one recently!
While I'll be
heading to Bunnahabhain Distillery (along with some other distilleries on Islay and in Campbeltown) next week for a fun tour I'm not sure if
they'll have anything quite this old in store for me, or even anything from the
late 90s in general outside of the growingly pricey older bottlings thanks to
the growing prestige of this distillery. Luckily for me though, /u/LOL_OILERS
is also making the trip over to Islay just after I return back from the whisky
isle so to help me prepare for my Bunnahabhain journey he decided to pour me
this independent bottling of Bunnahabhain from Duncan Taylor's Dimensions line.
It's been a while
since I've had a Duncan Taylor. Last year I had a really solid Glen Elgin from
their line as well as an older Macduff that was a bit of a letdown. But
Bunnahabhain is a bit of special distillery, especially at old ages going by
the reviews I've had of a few 18 year old Bunnas (both OB and IB) so I'm
excited to see how this distillery will fare at the 20 year old mark! So let's
dive in and take a closer look!
Age: 20 Years
Region: Islay
Cask Type(s): Oak Casks
ABV: 51.4%
No. of Bottles: 252
Maturation Time: Nov. 1991/Jun. 2012
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- Color: Straw Gold
- Nose: Very clean nose for a Bunna with a good dose of salinity, apple jam and sliced pear make the forefront appearance along with some baking spice, clove, cocoa powder, golden raisins, light almonds and sea salted caramels in the background
- Taste: A very salinic palate again as well with lots of apples, pears, cinnamon and loads of honey, a lot of honey in fact, then some white pepper, lapsang, ginseng, escargot, light earthy peat and fresh but not tart lemon curds
- Finish: Long with lingering soothing oiliness, salinity, apple and pear jams, lemon zest and clove
This is such a
wonderful light bodied style of Bunnahabhain. The notes are composed nicely and
strike a wonderful balance with each other and the palate has some great
pronounced jelliness and honey with an evolution into more oily and saline
qualities that last on your palate for over a minute. Adding water helps to
open up more baking spices and raisins and make the palate a bit more full as
well as make the finish even more pronounced and adds a bit more pepperiness
but more entangled pepperiness that doesn't overpower the fruit and saline
qualities. While it's not my favorite style of Bunnahabhain it's definitely one
that's so easy to drink and so easy to pick apart that you could easily sit
with this dram almost any day of the week and be satisfied even if it's not a
tongue crusher with peat, heavy oak or heavy wine influences. The spirit shines
so well and mingles nicely with what I'd imagine is a 2nd or 3rd fill bourbon
hogshead to where it makes for a very signature expression of very faintly peated
Bunnahabhain that's definitely worth giving a look into and possibly worth a
buy.
