Bunnahabhain 12 year old Whisky

This release is one of my favourites, the Bunnahabhain 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky.  The Bunnahabhain distillery on Islay sits on the North-East of the island, with the Caol Ila distillery as its only neighbour.

The name Bunnahabhain is Gaelic for ‘Mouth of the River’ and refers to the Margadale river, which supplies the distillery’s water.

The brothers Greenless and William Robertson founded Bunnahabhain in 1881. The distillery closed and reopened a few times during the twentieth century, and eventually, production was limited to only a few weeks annually under the Edrington Group.

During 2003 the Edrington Group sold Bunnahabhain (both distillery & brand) to Burn Stewart Distillers for £10 million.  Black Bottle blended whisky was included in the deal. Bunnahabhain has the largest production capacity of all distilleries on Islay. Launched in the summer of 2010, the new Bunnahabhain 12 year old whisky has an increase in ABV to 46.3%.

The Bunnahabhain is no chill-filtration and has no added colouring. It is presented in a new darker smoked glass bottle that replaced the traditional emerald-green of the older 12 year old bottling.

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Bunnahabhain 12 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Light golden amber glow in the glass. It is a medium oily whisky.

NOSE: Sweet with notes of rich, fruity sultanas and toffee. There are notes of oak and malt with hints of spice.  This Bunnahabhain 12 year old has a big bold nose, promising much. When adding a bit of water, the nose changes to more grain and wooden notes.

PALATE: Rich and full-bodied. The Bunnahabhain has a nice mouthfeel with smooth notes of sherry sweetness, herbal nuttiness and salty chewiness. There are notes of warming oak spice, vanilla, candied fruit and little hints of smoke. The taste delivers what the nose promised. A wonderful dram!

FINISH: Comforting and rounded with a long tail.  It ends in notes of sweetness and malt.

RATING: EXCELLENT

Delicious, satisfying and perfectly balanced. It is one of my personal favourites, which I always go back to. The occasion does not matter; a glass of Bunnahabhain always puts a smile on my face. Don’t you want a glass too?

For my New Years Eve celebration, I paired the Bunnahabhain 12 year old Scotch with a bar of espresso chocolate. With its notes of Sherry, malt and a bit of smoke, The Bunnahabhain paired perfectly with this coffee chocolate. It was probably one of our favourite pairings of the evening.

See the results over on my blog post. I also love the Bunnahabhain 18 year old whisky. It is a bottle that does not last long in my house.

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