Review by: zSolaris
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Region: Islay
Age: 18 Year. Bottled in 2019.
ABV: 46.30%
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/herr_maltenberg
Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.
Nose: The nose is a lot lighter than I would have expected. It smells like walking through a forest on a rainy day. There are some fruits as well in the form of a berry mix. Strawberries, blueberries, and huckleberries are what I pick out.
Palate: It starts with a pleasant warmth with a bit of the malt coming through. There’s a few fruit jams namely strawberry jam, a little bit of grape jelly, and apple butter. Freshly baked scones also come through. After a few sips, this has a very slight bit of creaminess to it which kind of reminds me of clotted cream.
Finish: Medium to long in length. That creaminess remains along with a toasted nut mix. Toasted almond slices stands out the most but there are other nutty notes as well. A little bit of marzipan finishes this all up.
Conclusion: When I poured this dram, I had built a little bit of an expectation of what it would taste like, probably a little bit of smoke and salt with a some fruit. This had some of that with a lot of fruit but none of the smoke and salt though it makes up for that with other fun notes. The nose surprised me a tad, with how light it was and how much it smelled of being in the outdoors. The fruit jams in the palate are quite nice but I found myself enjoying the warm malt and scone notes more. The little bit of creaminess just makes it feel like I’m about to have afternoon tea and not an Islay whisky. The finish is really nice, the toasted nuts and marzipan are a perfect way to finish this off. While it’s not what I expected, I found myself enjoying this quite a bit. Would I buy a bottle? Depending on the price, absolutely.
Final Score: 84.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
