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.
This whiky has incredible nose, red fruits, magnificent Oloroso notes, so fruity Mouth : Oak at first, and saltiness. Now give it A drop of water, and Time to open, complexity appears. Now there's à real consistency and balance is perfect. The mouth becomes very interesting and quite straight. Finish is quite long. This is an amazing piece of malt, without ppm, but à real temper.
This is our first dive into a Bunnahabhain...and noses first! One’s schnoz can easily pick out the ideals of the distillery; delicately floral with a cold musty intrigue. But still, behind that mask of pretty there lies some of the muscle of Islay, leather outweighs peat considerably but it’s warming to the heart to know where the roots of the spirit lay. A touch of sweetness in a caramel sort of way, mixed with toasted peaches and into our salivating holes she glides. Glides is a little off cue...the way this golden goodness meanders about the mouth is the way a hot air balloon moves, floating and swaying with a mind of its own. It practically evaporates off the tongue and massages the roof of the tasting orifice. Dried fruit of raisins and sultanas, a hint of calvados and not shy of a peppery persuasion. Some soft tannin’s are enjoyable, as is trying to pin down the evolving salt that washes to and fro like seaweed stuck in flotsam. Oak, certainly oak, but drizzled with soy sauce. There is an oily quality that seduces the gums and jaw into chewing for what seems like a numbing eternity. A sensational mouth-feel, solidly built with plenty of contrasting characters. Round and round this siren sings, songs of effervescence and calm ocean waters. With an ending of copper...the metallic kind that numbs and sparkles; we have discovered a delicious dram from a distillery we shall see again. Certainly worth a dip, but you might not stay anchored too long; for there are bigger creatures to hunt from the shores of Islay.
Vanilla and cookie dough dominate the front, and then a move towards biscuit and red berries, finishing with a light maritime character (brine). Pretty amazing stuff.
A friend's mom brought this back to the states as a housewarming gift. We are bourbon drinkers, not all that fond of scotch, so opened this up with a porch full of people to share. BIG mistake! This Scotch is so smooth, sultry and delectable we were kicking ourselves when the bottle was empty, and found out we couldn't find it anywhere in CA. If you want to enjoy something spectacular, treat yourself to a bottle of this. You will not be disappointed ... prepared to call yourself a true Scotch drinker!
