Review by: The Muskox

Whew, Scotchtoberfest lives another day! I’ve been trying a lot of Bunnahabhain lately, which is a good thing, of course. This one’s a heavily peated Moine bottling, so it’ll be a little different from the one’s I’ve had lately. Unholyoverlord’s latest intelligence from Islay is that “Moine” and “Staoisha” Bunnahabhains are exactly the same thing, and don’t differ in peating levels or anything. How about that.

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Distillery: Bunnahabhain.

Bottler: Blackadder.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 59%, cask strength.

Age: 13 years old. Distilled 12/20/2005. Bottled 10/16/2019.

Color: Bright gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Briny and tangy peat. Smoked kippers, smoked capers, flaming rubber, and fresh jalapenos. Tart aromatic notes of sea buckthorn and pickled ginger. Juniper berries, spruce twigs, flamed orange oil. Buttered popcorn and malt. Could it be… a sesame-seed bagel with lox, capers, onions, and cream cheese? Maybe one that’s on fire.

A dribble of water adds sweet peach and juicy citrus.

Palate: Medium texture. Surprisingly soft up front, candle-waxy with key lime sherbet and honey. Big charcoal briquettes and honey-sweet malt in the middle. Ashy beach bonfire, black pepper, iodine, sea spray, and fragrant dried driftwood. There are some juicy citrus, tropical, and apple notes in here too.

Water brings smoked meat, pepper steak, and smoked ribs.

Finish: Savoury, smoky, sweet. Chewing on fistfuls of black peppercorns. Brown mushrooms, ripe pineapple, and vanilla nougat. A bit vegetal-sweet, more of those jalapenos.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Paddlin’ the school canoe? That’s a paddlin’”

Notes: That packs a punch! Hugely powerful and peppery smoke. Water legitimately took the score up 3 points: it rounded out the intense smoke and really brought the fruit to the party. It triggered lots of fond memories of canoe trip campfires in the Canadian wilderness. My only complaint is that my sample bottle didn’t have enough cask sediment in it.

Final Score: 86.

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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.