Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old is a rich, complex beauty who has spent nearly two decades lounging in a mix of sherry and bourbon casks, soaking up all the good stuff. Bottled at 46.3% ABV without chill-filtration or added colouring (because why mess with perfection?), it serves up layers of sweet, fruity, and savoury deliciousness.
Salted caramel leading to sticky toffee pudding sprinkled with nutmeg. With time a leathery quality emerges.
Dense, rich sherried notes perked up with a coastal saltiness. On a second wave roast chestnuts emerge and gentle wood spice.
Woodspice becomes mixed spice. The finish is warming and lengthy; salt and sherry towards the very end.
Bunnahabhain without chill-filtration is dense and oily and shows off its sherried credentials with ease.
Picked this up last month and opened it today. A luscious islay. Not that phenolic Laphroaig or salty mineral Ardbeg. Nose is simple with salted caramel, soft sherry hints. Palate is awesome. A bit more rounded with smoke, peat and a sheer lingering sherry finish. Not that bitter. A bit oily. But gorgeous whisky. Elegant. Enjoyable. Not roughened up. I do have almost all the islay (OB bottlings) and a lot of good IB like Malts of Scotland, Kingbury. This whisky from Bunnahabhain is awesome. Lacks intensity but a great whisky.
Got a bottle from london , and probably a bad batch variation or something, but the 12yo is much more good , very disappointing , poor taste and awe-full nose, for that price it is very very hurt. i know that the 12yo is so good, so probably a bad batch , beware of those, defiantly will not buy this again .
This is one of my favourites which I normally pick up from the distillery when visiting the island. Christmas in a glass and great value, however I ordered some on line recently and I don't understand whats happened. It's almost as if it's not the same whiskey. That Christmas in a Glass moment is now a dim memory of the past and whats more frustrating is that I've been singing it's praises to my friends and fear that if they've bought the same batch as me they'll be wondering what the Heck I've been ranting about.
After enjoying the younger offerings, I thought to give the 18 a try. I concur with the Nose, Palate, Finish with the Chaps at MOM! Overall? ...Well, ADD A DROP OF PURE WATER....And THAT will make it "OVERALL! ;)
Got a bottle a few months back, and upon opening it discovered that it was truly awful (rancid, bitter, etc). Suspecting quality issues, I contact the distillery via email. Upon request, I sent them pictures of the cork, and they told me they suspected cork rot. They said they had undertaken a program to upgrade their cork quality and introduced more cork checks/inspections, but that my bottling date was from before these new improvements were in place (an older bottling). They said they were unable to offer a replacement because of international shipping (alas, I had not purchased through MasterOfMalt). Be careful with older bottlings and bad cork!
