Bunnahabhain has finally brought us a cask strength version of their core range 12-year old, which suddenly appeared soon after ex-Ardbeg/Glenmorangie Brendan McCarron joined the team as Head Distiller. And now it's landed down under! But that's not all, folks. This is a 2-for-1 review!
First, a confession: I've never been a huge fan of the standard Bunnahabhain 12-year old. Yes it's decent value for money, and it does typify the distillery's character, but there are many other whiskies at the same price point that I'd choose ahead of it. As much as I love the drier, gingery, nutty style of unpeated Bunnahabhain, the 12-year old has always seemed a little austere, and rough around the edges. I'm not saying I'd turn down a dram if you're buying, but I don't find myself wishing that I had a bottle on the shelf - possibly because there's always another Bunnahabhain there to satisfy the craving. But despite that, any cask strength version of a distillery's core range bottling is going to pique my curiosity, and this is no exception. Supposedly this is going to be an annual release, with this first 2021 edition hitting the European shelves late last year and arriving in Australia around May this year. Local pricing is not unreasonable at around $165 AUD, or around $50 above than the standard version at 46.3% ABV, and from my external perspective the stock does seem to be selling quickly - I'm a bit late to the party with this review, but hopefully there's still some around. Both versions of the 12-year old are fully matured in ex-sherry casks, although in my opinion the vast majority if not the entirety would be refill, which is very much the standard operating procedure at Bunnahabhain since it suits their spirit style very nicely.
I wish more distilleries would release cask strength versions of their core range products. Some do this on a sporadic basis, but most don't bother at all, or they only give us a younger NAS cask strength bottling instead. Let's imagine a readily-available cask strength version of Ardbeg 10, Glendronach 18, Lagavulin 16, or Talisker 10. Yes they'd obviously be significantly more expensive than the standard versions, but if these hypothetical whiskies were presented properly like this Bunnahabhain is, i.e. they were natural cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour (looking at the hypothetical Diageo two there), I suspect they'd be fantastic. Why don't these imaginary beasts already exist? Probably because the increased pressure on maturing stocks would hurt the availability of the standard versions, and sales would go backwards as a result. Any company would be very hesitant to take that risk with such a large chunk of their balance sheets, particularly the larger corporations with their return-hungry shareholders. But it's also possibly because the distillery and/or their parent company doesn't have the flexibility in their bottling halls to be fiscally practical, or perhaps the whiskies' flavour profiles don't quite work at cask strength without significant alterations to the blends/vattings, also requiring increased costs. None of those possible roadblocks have stopped Bunnahabhain though, and it shows that owners Distell are listening to the market and also listening to their staff, and are giving us whisky nerds exactly what we want!
There are a couple of points of difference with Bunnahabhain over those distilleries targeted above. This is a lesser-known distillery with less demand on its core range product than those hypothetical examples that I mentioned, and therefore there's less risk on Distell's part. On the other hand this whisky is probably going to win over plenty of new customers who have otherwise overlooked the distillery's official offerings in favour of a readily-available alternative. And by that I mean, the independent bottlers. Bunnahabhain's large annual output of 2.5-million litres of spirit, with roughly 80% of that being unpeated and 20% being peated, is much more than they currently need for their own bottlings, including the sizeable chunk that goes into their blended whiskies like Black Bottle. So they also sell a large amount of spirit and casks to independent bottlers, and aside from perhaps Caol Ila this is probably the easiest Islay single malt to find in an independent bottling. They're generally in unpeated sherry cask-matured form, are often bottled at cask strength, and they're regularly released by just about every independent bottler of Scotch whisky on the market. And that's obviously not the case with any of those hypothetical other examples that I mentioned above. So, this situation presents something of a challenge for this cask strength official bottling of Bunnahabhain; it essentially has to compete with a plethora of cask strength independent bottlings of Bunnahabhain! Yes, this is a cask strength (55.1%), non-chill filtered and natural colour limited release that is fully matured in sherry casks, but so are many of those independent bottlings. Let's see how it fares, shall we?
Unpeated, fully matured in sherry casks (presumably mostly refill). Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Bunnahabhain Aonadh, 10-year old, 56.2%. Islay, Scotland.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Very Bunnahabhain, immediately familiar. Ginger cake (think softer gingerbread, not hard biscuits), salted roasted nuts (walnut & almond in particular), and dried stone fruit. Black cherry jam, orange rind and a touch of treacle. Cocoa nibs (bitter dark chocolate), raisins and soft leather further in.
Texture: Medium weight. Rich & spicy, dry & nutty. Slight heat but very pleasant.
Taste: More ginger cake, treacle toffee, black pepper, salted roasted nuts & cocoa nibs - headed towards cocoa powder here actually. More black cherry jam, soft leather & dried fruit - prunes, figs, nectarine, and bitter orange.
Finish: Short-medium length. Salted walnut & almond again, more ginger cake and a touch of vanilla cake batter. Raisins soaked in spiced syrup (cinnamon & clove) and a slight touch of black pepper.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: Black forest cake with handfuls of ginger & salted nuts thrown in. As you'd expect, this really is the standard 12-year old with the volume turned up a few notches. But I find this cask strength version more drinkable than the 46%-er that it was based on, and I'd also say it's more rounded, less spicy & peppery, and maybe a little more "sherried". But it's not a sherry bomb or cask-led whisky at all, there's loads of distillery character on show, and it has just about everything you would expect and could want in a refill sherry cask Bunnahabhain. It may not have the "wow factor" of some of the independent bottlings that it'll inevitably be compared to, but that's to be expected for a cask strength version of the distillery's core range / flagship bottling. This is a solid showing that will easily beat the standard 12-year old any day of the week, and at a reasonable price as well. Certainly worth trying & buying if you're a Bunnahabhain fan - and who isn't?
Now for Part 2! No, we're not throwing an independent bottling into the ring as you might expect for comparison, this is another cask strength official bottling, but a slightly more limited release of 14,000 bottles... this is Bunnahabhain 'Aonadh', which is pronounced "Oon-ock". They do love their unpronounceable Gaelic names at Bunnahabhain! The word means "union" in this case. This is a 10-year old unpeated Bunna', distilled in 2011, and it's a marriage of fully-matured sherry casks - again, presumably mostly refill sherry - and some port cask finished Bunnahabhain, bottled at a cask strength of 56.2%. I can't say I've tried a port influenced Bunnahabhain before, and I'm guessing we'll be looking at a sweeter, richer, spicier style, although we don't know how many port casks were included in the vatting. This one is also still available at the time of writing, obviously at a higher price than the 12.
Distilled 2011, vatting of port cask finish and sherry cask full maturation. 14,000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Copper.
Nose: Fuller, slightly richer & slightly sweeter. Ginger syrup, black pepper, and honey-roasted nuts. Stewed rather than dried fruit in this one, with sultanas, currants, and plums. Spiced syrup with cinnamon, nutmeg & some sage - think mulled wine without the wine!
Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rich, thick & spicy. But there's also a definite heat and a little harshness.
Taste: Ginger syrup, figs & dates, raisins & currants. Thick butter caramel & honey-roasted nuts, with some spicy oak. That spiced syrup & leafy sage from the nose again, plus a big pinch of black pepper.
Finish: Medium-long length. Stewed fruit & spiced syrup carry through, as does the ginger and thick caramel. Slight roughness & spirit-y heat running underneath. Black pepper, a touch of black olive, and some yeasty sourdough starter around the edges.
Score: 3 out of 5.
Notes: It's a little rougher and less rounded than the 12 Cask Strength, and it feels a little hurried and a little muddled in comparison. Which is not what I expected to find in Aonadh, particularly based on the nose. There's still a good dose of distillery character on show, but I feel it's been muted & muddled by those port casks being added into the vatting. I suppose the idea was to add some extra richness and some extra sweetness, but adding more first-fill sherry casks could've done that too, or maybe some PX, both of which are well proven to work with the Bunnahabhain spirit. While it's not really fair to compare pricing on this limited release to the cask strength 12-year old, Aonadh is also another $60 AUD, or nearly 30% more, over the 12, and that doesn't add up in my book. It's a close call between the two on the nose, and Aonadh does have more length on the finish, but that's about it. These two cask strength Bunnahabhains are much further apart than I expected, and I know where my money would be going!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your thoughts & opinion on my opinion!