Bunnahabhain is one of our heart distilleries, with regard to Islay. Traditionally producer of non-peated whisky, thus revealing a past centered on the production for the blending industry, Bunna is located in one of the most suggestive areas of the island. A few kilometers from Port Askaig, the road that leads there – which also passes in front of Ardnahoe – is breathtakingly beautiful, among lakes, peat fields, sheep, pheasants and continuous ups and downs. Today we taste the official 18 years, quite hard to find in Italy due to some distribution problems. But think about our generosity: we went all the way to Scotland to get a sample, and that’s just for you. ONLY FOR YOU!
N: very aromatic and full. Brioche with butter, apricot croissants, but also those butter pastry from Vicenza; a lot of citrus, bitter orange marmalade. It promises to be sticky, with dense notes of honey, caramel; it’s creamy like a strawberry pastry. Dark chocolate. Varied fruits, very ripe and almost cooked: red apples, plums. A vague sense of sea air. Spicy Christmas cookies.
P: first of all, it is rich, with a very sticky, dense body. Rather consistent, it shows a warm, dense orange, marmalade styled. Cinnamon stick. It has a mineral and iodine patina, perhaps due to a soft peat touch, which gives complexity to the palate. We forget to mention a buttery dessert, which we would say again to be a brioche.
F: medium long, persistent, with orange peel, a mineral-peated side and something sweet and buttery.
86/100, good, satisfying, very classic, round and with adequate complexity. The share of ex-sherry barrels, both first fill and refill, is quite evident, just like the heart of a distillate that comes from the largest stills on the island. In our opinion, perhaps we prefer the 12 years, which is a little more “fresh” and it’s half the price.
Recommended soundtrack: Five Finger Death Punch – Wrong Side of Heaven.
