Signatory 30th Annv Bunnahabhain 1968

Tasting Notes

Whisky Fun Tasting Note - Serge - 91pts

"Nineteen sixty -eight! Hold on, wasn’t that the vintage of the famous ‘Auld Acquaintance’ that turned plenty of heads when it came out? Including this one? Colour: full gold (paler than the 40). Nose: you do feel it’s an old one. This nose reminds me of all those old casks that we could nose at Duncan Taylor’s when they had started their ‘Auld and Rare’ range. You do feel quite a lot of oak, but in the best cases, and this is one of them, that old oak kind of transmuted into some kind of od embrocation, or cough syrup, without any obvious dryness. Say pine resin, coconut wine, camphor, melted beeswax and just pollen. It’s very specific. Perhaps a hint of artichoke. As always, it’s on the palate that the war will be fought, but we have confidence in this case… Mouth: and we were right. Honeydew, mead, fir liqueur (from the neighbouring Vosges mountains), crystallised pineapple, papaya jam… In truth it is not ‘oaky’ at all on your palate! Rather a miracle, and probably a stunning refill cask that had decided, in the first place, to play it elegantly. Like an old British actress, my dear. Finish: pretty long, still fresh ,never oaky, with various honeyed notes and reminiscences of many an old chardonnay from the best terroirs. I know, terroir again… Like, Meursault? Comments: I suppose they have been monitoring this marvellous old cask for decades, wondering if it would have hold until their 30th. It did – mind you, the best casks are smart, they are almost persons! No, really! SGP:561 - 91 points."

Whisky Fun Tasting Note - Serge - 91pts

"Colour: gold/copper. Nose: there’s a fleeting nibble of wood and furniture polish but the dominant initial impression is one of expensive honeys, beeswax, pollens and nectar. Notes of lychee in syrup, kumquat, orange cocktail bitters and hessian. Parts of this really recall older Bunna bottlings such as the immense Auld Acquaintance, just without the same heft of sherry. Develops some notes of plum wine, treacle and old leather. The nose is really harmonious and beautiful, but, as with so many older malts: the proof will be on the palate. Mouth: lots of crystallised fruits, hessian, sandalwood, salty notes of marmite and toasted walnuts. The texture is surprisingly full for the low abv. Notes of quince, various dark fruit jams, sultana, some salted caramel. Pretty superb and surprisingly fresh really. Some lemon cordial, mint tea and herbal bitters. Finish: long, wonderfully resinous, salty, herbal and full of light tobaccos, menthol and stewed fruits. Comments: I had wondered if this one might be a tad tired. Sadly, I have to report that it is actually rather irritatingly brilliant. The finish in particular is superb. Even after 50 years you still feel the Bunnahabhain DNA. I suspect one of the keywords here was ‘refill’. SGP: 661 - 91 points."

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. 

Independent Bottler

Signatory Vintage was established in 1988 by Andrew Symington. The quality of whiskies released by most Independent Bottlers can vary a lot, and be rather hit or miss. Signatory Vintage is an exception to this, and we have consistently been impressed by the quality of its offerings. Accordingly Signatory Vintage has been a staple in our shop for more than a decade.

One of the reasons for Signatory's consistently high level of quality is that it doesn't bottle casks in the hand-to-mouth fashion, of many other independent bottlers. But rather it purchases parcels of casks, storing them in their own warehouses, while patiently waiting for the whiskies to mature.

Originally located in Edinburgh, the business was moved to Pitlochry in 2002, after Symington purchased the Edradour Distillery from Pernod Ricard. Edradour is tucked into the hills above the scenic Highland town of Pitlochry. This farm distillery has a charming, rustic, and understated esthetic, which was maintained by Symington when building a new bottling facility and warehousing.

The distillery bottles single cask and small batch bottlings of both single malts and single grains. Its ranges include the Un-Chill Filtered and Cask Strength Collections. In 1988 the firm celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a range of specially chosen, exceptionally rare single casks.