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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.
Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt
Nose
Salted caramel leading to sticky toffee pudding sprinkled with nutmeg. With time a leathery quality emerges.
Palate
Dense, rich sherried notes perked up with a coastal saltiness. On a second wave roast chestnuts emerge and gentle wood spice.
Finish
Woodspice becomes mixed spice. The finish is warming and lengthy; salt and sherry towards the very end.
Overall
Bunnahabhain without chill-filtration is dense and oily and shows off its sherried credentials with ease.
Winner of 12 spirit awards
Gold Outstanding
Scotch Single Malt - Islay - 2017
International Wine & Spirit Competition
Gold
Scotch Single Malt - Islay - 2017
International Wine & Spirit Competition
Silver Outstanding
Scotch Single Malt - Islay - 2013
International Wine & Spirit Competition
Silver
Scotch Single Malt - Islay - 2014
International Wine & Spirit Competition
Gold
Single Malt Scotch - 13 to 19 Yrs - 2013
San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Gold
Islay Single Malt 13 to 20 Years - 2014
World Whiskies Awards
Gold
Islay Single Malt 13 to 20 Years - 2015
World Whiskies Awards
Silver
Distillers' Single Malts between 13 and 20 years old - 2019
International Spirits Challenge
Master
Islay 13-18 years old - 2015
The Scotch Whisky Masters (The Spirits Business)
Gold
Islay 13-18 years old - 2013
The Scotch Whisky Masters (The Spirits Business)
Gold
Islay 13-18 years old - 2018
The Scotch Whisky Masters (The Spirits Business)
Silver
Islay 13-18 years old - 2014
The Scotch Whisky Masters (The Spirits Business)
Allergy Information
This product does not contain any notifiable allergens
In stock, get it tomorrow with express delivery02:39:23
Wonderful
Great experience. Wonderful
Master of Malt Customer Feb 6, 2022
Good but not great
Not as good as I was hoping. I LOVE the 12 and thought the 18 would be a step up. It’s good don’t get me wrong, but it’s not great, and certainly not from the price @£110. I much prefer glendronach 18 or even the 15 and there both better value too.
David Merritt Feb 26, 2021
I was a little bit disappointed
I bought a bottle after hours of investigation of Bunna 18, I tried the 12 earlier this year and wanted to go for the 18, because it's widely said to be one of the best 18 out there. The 12 was ok, but the main thing about 12 is the alcohol note, it's a bit high.
The 18 is smoother, with more sherry influence.. it says on the back label that it's matured exclusivly in sherry casks, but David Brodie said it's 60% bourbon vs 40% sherry on a distilliation tour @ whisky.com?
Anyways, the alcohol note isn't as high as in the 12, the 18 is much better.. that's no secret because it's matured for 6 more years. It's smoother, with more sherry and I am 98,6% sure that bourbon casks was used in the maturation, though the back label spell it differently. I enjoyed it, whiskybase rates it 88% avg, ralfy rates it both 90 and 87 points in his reviews - Scotch 4 Dummies gave it 3.5+.
I'm going to give this 4 out of 5, the alcohol note is a little offputting for a 18 year old whisky.. it's not that high but it's prominent, maybe it needed more in the palate to become 'one of the best 18's' as it's said, more smoke perhaps?
I am comparing this to Talisker 18 which I had earlier this year, which is a very gentle one. It was voted the best whisky of the year back in 2007 by the World Whiskies Awards... If Talisker 18 had more sherry in it, it would probably be one of the best whiskies of all time, truly unique.
Bunna 18 is very good but I was expecting more on the palate. If I could rule I would put more smoke in it. It is slightly peated though, as it's said only 1-4 ppm. Which is a low number for smoke.
Anyways, cheers from Iceland!
Master of Malt Customer Dec 12, 2020
An after-dinner delight for all without the gauntlet of bravado to the tongue
A classy dram. I'd been highly fond of the affordable nature of Glen Scotia Victoriana of late and they have a lot in common in their sherried sweetness and their gentler approaches to more commonly robustly dealt out Isla style angles. This one is of course twice the price and its elegant approach to meeting very similar aims comes through, not to denigrate the Victoriana which I still merrily churn through, however this Bunnahabhain is just nice little find which I feel could appeal to both keen novices and more seasoned palates and be loved by both.
In short, a swirling dance with the more fulsome side of whisky but without being beaten round the gullet with it.
Julian Willson Dec 10, 2020
Salted burnt toffee. Excellent dram.
I love peaty scotches, but coming back to this after a few months on the peat blew me away. Amazing depth of flavour that you can chew on while drifting off to sleep.
