TB Pride of Islay Bunnahabhain 12 Year

Tasting Notes

Producer Tasting Note

Nose: rich and oily with bags of coastal minerality still shining through. ripe red berries and zesty citrus oils lead, followed by a gentle warming hit of toasted cinnamon and lingering baking spice. A quiet touch of soft peanut brittle sits underneath.

Palate: that distinctive coastal mineral spirit carries right through, carried by a rich, mouth-coating texture. spicy cinnamon and fresh orange peel hit upfront, before honey, walnut oil, and soft, ripe red fruits lift the mid-palate.

Finish: rich cask character stretches the finish nicely. Honeyed sweetness and toasted baking spice warmth gently give way to more walnut oil, all while keeping that unmistakable, unpeated Islay coastal character right to the end.

Distillery

Originally written by Evan for a blog post relating to KWM's 2020 Whisky Calendar.

Bunnahabhain Distillery is the northernmost distillery on Islay – it lays off the beaten path and is somewhat remote even when compared to the rest of the island. The distillery was actually only reachable by boat until the 1960s, when a road was finally built to it. Bunnahabhain is one of a trio of Scottish Single Malt Distilleries owned by Burn Stewart (Distell Group).

Burn Stewart and its parent company also own Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull which we discussed on both on Day Four and Day Seventeen. and Deanston Distillery which resides on the Scottish mainland in Perthshire. Like its siblings, most of the flagship single malts Bunnahabhain range are bottled unchill-filtered and with no added colouring at the curious but commendable strength of 46.3% ABV.

Like many Scottish distilleries, Bunnahabhain is a Gaelic name. It translates to "the foot of the river".

This Islay distillery was founded in 1881 and started its life making the heavily peated whisky that the region is famous for. For most of its history its whisky was exclusively used in blends such as Black Bottle, and even today only a fraction of its production is bottled as a single malt. In 1963 production was increased and at the same time the distillery’s style was changed to the lighter, unpeated single malt whisky it is known for today. Since 1997 there have been small amounts of heavily peated (35 PPM malt spec) single malt made each year but it is not what the distillery is known for. 

The core of Bunnahabhain’s production and lineup doesn’t show very noticeable peat if it shows at all as they use a malt spec with a maximum phenolic level of 2 PPM. This makes it one of the more gently peated Islay single malts available. The distillery and its whisky are sometimes referred to as the ‘Gentle Giant of Islay’ What it lacks in smoke and peat it typically makes up for in nuanced and complex character and plenty of sherry cask influence, at least in official bottlings.