If you ask me, I’d say that Bunnahabhain has an excellent core range. You only have to look at their 18 year old, which is top notch. The top dog however, should be the Bunnahabhain 25 Years Old.
This whisky is unchill-filtered, and has its natural colour. The website of Bunnahabhain sadly makes no mention at all of the cask types that were used for their quarter century old luxury expression, which, quite frankly, baffles me.
Just to clarify: when I’m talking about the core range of Bunnahabhain, I mean the age statement expressions they, because I’m not very much familiar with their fancy named NAS whiskies.
Bunnahabhain 25 Years Old (46,3%, OB, +/- 2015)
Nose: Very delicate. It takes some time to open up. Polished leather, varnish and some sweet bell pepper powder at first. But those aromas quickly make way for orange marmelade, blueberries, apricots and plums. Finally some salty soy sauce. Subtle, gently sherry influence. Superbly balanced.
Taste: Sweet and oily, with a fair amount of old wood influence. Really elegant. It makes me want to stop writing notes, and just simply enjoy it. But alas, you can’t always do what you want 😉 Honey and raisins, and again orange marmelade. Finally a whiff of menthol and very subtle smoke, followed by a spicy edge.
Finish: Quite spicy and drying, before returning to honey and raisins.
Rating: 90
Just a wonderful, well-aged Bunnahabhain. It tastes as if quite a bit of older casks went into this. A whisky to savour and take your time with.