Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
I’d have to say that, for me, Bunnahabhain is in second-to-last place for distilleries on Islay. I tend to be underwhelmed by them, and I rarely seek it out. On a literal island of scotch excellence they just don’t stand out.
But every now and then I take a little gamble, and to that end here are a couple of peated expressions from SMWS that were real bargains. Let’s see how Bunna is when you rub some peat on it, skip the sherry, and bottle the casks at full strength.
Tasted on 5/2/2021, neat in a Glencairn, then with a splash of water in each.
Bunnahabhain 9 Year SMWS 10.124 “Riding the wave”
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Bottler: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 61.4%, cask strength
Age: 9 years old. Distilled on 02/07/2008. Bottled in 2017.
Cask type: Refill Ex-Bourbon Barrel
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 226 bottles, from a single cask #10.124.
Nose: very maritime w/ dirty sweater, sea shells, warm sand. Orange. Iodine, eucalyptus. Gentle wood smoke and ash. Sweet honey. Vanilla. With Water: lots more fruit, apricot, peach. Much more subtle than it was.
Taste: salty sea water. Massive, ashy wood smoke. Oily mouthfeel. Citrus. Iodine. Mild pepper.With Water: more fruit again w/ apricot, peach. The smoke comes forward and is more in balance. Still really salty w/ building spice.
Finish: big ashy wood smoke and tons of maritime notes. Quite salty. Seaweed. Citrus. Iodine, eucalyptus. Some pepper. Black rubber. Medium length w/ smoke, seawater, and pepper turning a bit sour towards the end.With Water: yep, more fruit forward now, but still big and smokey on the finish. That sour note on the end is gone.
Summary: This is pretty good neat, but much better with water. Neat, the smoke is overpowering on the palate and in the finish. There’s a disconnect between the nose and the palate for sure. There’s also a sour note on the tail of the finish I can’t quite place. It’s poorly balanced at this point, and simple, but nothing too special. Water improves this quite a bit. More fruit comes through everywhere and it’s way better balanced. The sour note on the finish is gone, too. It’s also more subtle on the nose now. Overall, w/ water, this is a very good dram with big maritime notes and smoke over bright fruit, with some medicinal notes around the edges. Very nice.
Would I buy a bottle? sure. Good value for the rather modest price.
Final Score: 85.
Bunnahabhain 9 Year SMWS 10.137 “Beach bonfire cocktail hour”
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Bottler: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 58.8%, cask strength
Age: 9 years old. Distilled on 12/10/2007. Bottled on 11/01/2017.
Cask type: HTMC 2nd Fill Hogshead
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 112 bottles, from a single cask #10.137.
Nose: wood smoke, mild peat. Lime, apricot. Sea spray. Iodine, camphor. Caramel. With Water: sweeter w/ some honey now. Black tea. More seawater. More smoke.
Taste: wood smoke, a little ash and peat. Apricot. Seawater. Iodine and camphor. Building white pepper. Some sweet caramel. Medium-to-thin mouthfeel. With Water: bigger smoke. Mouthfeel is more oily. More fruit, lime. Almost a bit creamy.
Finish: sweet apricot. Big wood smoke w/ a little ash. Seawater. Toffee. Camphor. Medium length w/ lingering fruit, smoke, and salt.With Water: even bigger than before, w/ lots of smoke, fruit, seawater, and camphor. Longer finish, too, much longer with nice balance along the way.
Summary: Neat this is more subtle than the other one, with good balance. No big complexity here, but it’s nice. With water this gets bigger all around. More interesting on the nose, with well balanced maritime, smoke, and medicinal notes. Some honey tea, too. Still relatively simple, but it’s working really well. The finish is where it’s at with this one. Long, classically Islay, delicious.
Would I buy a bottle? yes. I’d have gone higher than I originally paid for this one for sure.
Final Score: 87.
Comparison
Order: 137 “Beach bonfire cocktail hour” > 124 “Riding the wave”
With water is where these both shine. The 137 is superior to the 124 for me. More interesting, better balance, much longer finish. Really nicely balanced. The 124 has brighter fruit, more subtle smoke, a shorter finish, and is less complex. These are both fine drams and I’m happy to have these bottles.
I wouldn’t have guessed either of these was Bunnahabhain. I’d have probably guessed single cask Caol Ila.
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 