Bunnahabhain may seem like quite a conservative and traditional distillery on face value, and to some extent that's true with most of their core bottlings. But when you start looking into their limited releases and particularly their distillery exclusives, that's definitely not the case! How about unpeated Bunnahabhain finished in a Muscat cask? Or peated Bunnahabhain, named Moine (pronounced "Moyn-yah"), finished in a Marsala cask? Or a Brandy cask finish? Or even a very rare Palo Cortado sherry cask finish? And to further prove my point, to my knowledge the first whisky that I'm reviewing today is the first Islay single malt release that has seen the inside of an ale cask. Exciting stuff!
The distillery is easily the most difficult to physically visit on Islay. It may not look far from the Port Askaig ferry terminal on a map, but once you turn off the main road you're faced with around four miles / 6.5km of winding single track two-way road, including pretty much driving through the centre of somebody's farm. Although if you're lucky with the weather it's also one of the most scenic drives on the island, looking across the Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura. But it's a nice touch when a distillery rewards you for making the journey by offering exclusive hand-filled bottlings (*ahem* Ardbeg...), and Bunnahabhain definitely do that. Offering them in both peated and un-peated form is also a great move. The prices do vary of course, and there is a rarity factor involved, but there are often also 200ml bottlings or even 30ml samples available for purchase which makes those far easier to justify financially. They also seem to have a good range of their other limited releases available, or at least they did during my visit, although understandably those aren't always available to taste.
During my recent pilgrimage to Islay I was lucky enough to taste a few that were available for purchase, including the aforementioned unpeated Muscat finish that my wife ended up buying for herself, and I picked up a very special 200ml bottle myself, and a couple of 30ml sample bottles. There was a strong temptation to buy much more of course, but this was the first day on Islay and we had another eight distilleries to visit, so I had to be very conservative and discerning with my purchasing.
The first that we're looking at is the unpeated American Craft Ale Cask Finish. This one is a hand-filled distillery exclusive "Warehouse Edition" that was released during the Feis Ile (the Islay Festival) in late May 2018, but it was not a Feis Ile bottling. It also sold out some time ago, and was only available in 30ml bottles which will have sold out by now. Unfortunately that all makes it quite hard to find solid information on its particulars, and I haven't been able to find any details on what type of American craft ale cask was used, or how long it spent in that ale cask, or when it was distilled, or how many bottles were filled. So all we know is it was bottled at 50.5% ABV - but we don't know if that was cask strength - and that it spent at least some time in an American craft ale cask. Regardless, ale cask malts are few and far between, and this being the first ale cask Islay single malt it's effectively ground-breaking. So let's give it a shot!
Hand-filled distillery exclusive, released during Feis Ile 2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Very pale gold.
Nose: Hmm it's younger than I expected. At least so far. Quite closed off and shy, even with substantial breathing & warming time. There's tropical fruit (banana, papaya, melon), honey and an interesting yeasty note. In fact this could pass for a very young Bruichladdich quite easily, aside from some aniseed and a little floral soap around the edges. Becomes more nutty and a dry sourness develops with more time.
Texture: Medium weight, richer & sweeter than the nose suggested, but it's also slightly astringent. Light acetone-like spirit heat.
Taste: More aniseed and tropical fruit - banana & papaya again, and sweetened pineapple. A nice putty-like greasy quality to it as well, but with that drying & astringent acetone alongside.
Finish: Short. Becomes more nutty, almonds and possibly walnuts, then the honey from the nose comes through with a touch of orange behind it.
Score: 3 out of 5.
Notes: Definitely the most tropical Bunnahabhain that I've tasted, which I'd assume to be down to the ale cask. It really could pass for a very young Bruichladdich with a few points of difference, which would be a plus for me, but those points of difference hinder this one rather than help it, at least for my palate. In my opinion it's been bottled quite young, maybe the ale cask was getting a little too assertive and was overpowering the spirit, or maybe it was getting too far from the desired character? The texture is a winner here though, nice & weighty which again reminds me of a very young Bruichladdich. I'm glad this was only a 30ml sample to be honest, but it's still an enjoyable malt, and kudos to Bunnahabhain for trying something different!
Before we get into review number two, I have something even more exciting to share! One of the most exciting distillery exclusives available from Bunnahabhain during my visit isn't actually whisky, because it hasn't spent any time in cask/s. And like the ale cask, I believe this just might be a first for an Islay distillery. I'm talking about new make spirit! Bunnahabhain is actually selling 200ml bottles of both their unpeated and peated (Moine) new make spirit, directly from the distillery shop. To just nose and/or taste a distillery's new make spirit is a very rare experience, let alone being able to actually buy a labelled bottle of said spirit and take it home with you. Once again, to my knowledge, this is a first for an Islay distillery. Obviously this is a limited release and no doubt it won't be available forever, but this is just a fantastic idea. If you ask me there's no better way to get to know a distillery's character than to smell & taste their spirit before it goes into casks, and I wish more distilleries would follow suit! I went for the peated Moine option, and it was bottled at the filling strength of 63.5% ABV (can't call it cask strength can we!). I've only had the pleasure of trying two peated new make spirits previously, and both were very good (particularly Laphroaig's!), so this will be very interesting. I won't be scoring it of course since it isn't whisky, but this is a rare opportunity that I just had to share!
Hand-filled distillery shop exclusive. Non-chill filtered, natural (lack of) colour.
Colour: Nope! Nada.
Nose: Acetone sweetness, a slight touch of grassy smoke but it's very well hidden. Loads of sweet, grassy, damp malted barley, like walking past Port Ellen Maltings at the start of the kilning cycle.
Texture: Medium weight, oily and syrupy sweet. Surprisingly little heat, but it does leave the throat a little raw.
Taste: There's the peat, a nice earthy smoky peat followed by a delicious sweet pear juice with a little orange zest behind. Some spicy and sweet acetone as well.
Finish: Short, but powerful. More pear juice and a little milk chocolate, and grassy malt. The pear juice turns into actual fruit later on, Nashi pear to be exact, with some muddy peat alongside and a little chilli milk chocolate to finish.
Notes: Very tasty actually! It's a bit raw of course, and the slightly hot acetone note will put some people off, but that's to be expected with most new make. Those sweet pear juice and grassy damp malt notes are very enjoyable, and the peat is surprisingly gentle. Vastly different to Laphroaig's new make spirit, but then that's also to be expected! An excellent idea from Bunnahabhain to sell this stuff, and a fantastic opportunity for Islay fans to get their hands on the raw product - in every sense of the word!
Right, onto the third, and this one is most definitely whisky! Bunnahabhain Moine (pronounced "Moyn-yah") Brandy Finish, which is a limited release that was bottled in 2017. As you've probably already guessed it is peated Bunnahabhain (Moine) that was finished in a brandy cask. Brandy is a grape spirit which isn't always aged in oak casks, but in this case it obviously was. Cognac and Eau-de-vie are essentially types of brandy (as is Armagnac), and whiskies finished or matured in those casks are slightly more common, but as far as the actual "brandy" name is concerned, I believe this is again a first for an Islay malt. Being a limited but more general release means that we have plenty of information on this one. It was distilled in December 2004 and bottled in June 2017, making it a 12-year old whisky, and it spent the first nine years in (presumably refill) sherry casks before being transferred to the brandy casks for the final three years, and 4,152 numbered bottles were released at a cask strength of 55.3% ABV. I suspect this will be more familiar...
Bunnahabhain Moine Brandy Finish, 12-year old, 55.3%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 12/2004, matured for over nine years in (presumably refill) sherry casks, finished for around three years in brandy casks, bottled 6/2017. 4,152 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Gold.
Nose: OK no, it's not so familiar after all! A soft dry peat smoke, and interesting dessert wine note, a white version that's only semi-sweet. Guessing that's the brandy cask? Some grassy malt and a sweet caramelised orange. An interesting condensed milk-like sweetness in the background, maybe milky caramel chews.
Texture: Medium weight, quite rich, very condensed milk-like in feel actually. Lightly peaty and only a slight touch of spirit-y heat.
Taste: Milk chocolate orange, soft grassy peat smoke and a little semi-sweet licorice. A pinch of dry spices, particularly cinnamon, and some dried tarragon. More milky caramel chews, but they're darker here.
Finish: Medium length. Becomes dryer and more astringent with that grassy smoke, dried herbs, and the peat comes back through with that semi-sweet white grape note from the nose. A little smoky plasticine towards the end.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: Interesting! It's more up my alley than the unpeated ale cask, but I expected that going in. That milky sweetness is very interesting and completely unexpected, although not in a bad way. I can't say that I've ever tried brandy on its own, but I'd assume that, and the grape note, is coming from the brandy cask? Either way it has worked in its favour, and it's made this whisky distinctly different. That lovely soft peat smoke is lighter and softer than I expected, but that makes it almost refreshing. Very tasty stuff!
So, three totally different spirits - and two totally different whiskies - from Bunnahabhain. I revisited the brandy finish after reviewing the peated new make spirit, just for science's sake of course, and I must admit it was very difficult to find any correlation. But that makes sense with such an usual cask finishing, and an even more unusual result from that cask finishing, and I'll have to compare the new make with some peated Bunnahabhain from an ex-bourbon cask in future to see what happens. The ale cask didn't quite win me over, despite the fact that I'm a big fan of younger ex-bourbon cask Bruichladdichs, and that tropical fruit was quite unexpected in a Bunnahabhain. What would be a cool idea, and I believe a couple of "new world" distilleries have done this recently, is if the ale itself was bottled & released alongside the whisky that was matured (or finished) in the casks that it came from. That would make for a very interesting comparison, or at least an enjoyable boiler maker. Unsurprisingly for the whisky nerd that I am, I found the new make spirit to be the most intriguing of these three reviews. To taste the spirit itself, as it came off the still, is a very special experience, and like I said above I wish more distilleries would follow suit with that one. Kudos to Bunnahabhain for trying (so many) different things, keep it up guys!
Cheers!
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