Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Continuing on my Bunnahabhain kick, here’s two high-strength single sherry casks, one OB, one IB. No info on what kinds of sherry casks here, but hey, I do loves me some sherry and Islay. On paper these ought to be brilliant!
Tasted on 8/4/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate.
(Pic from Whiskybase)
Bunnahabhain 10 year (2003) Feis Ile 2013 “Sgeul Na Mara”
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 60.1%, cask strength
Age: 10 years old. Distilled on 02/20/2003. Bottled on 03/19/2013.
Cask type: Sherry Cask
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 606 bottles, from a single cask #79.
Nose: sweet caramel. Chocolate covered cherries. Ethanol. Seawater. Apricot. Walnuts. With Water: cherry syrup. Heat is tamed. Raisins, orange. Black pepper.
Taste: hot. Pepper. Sweet, very. Caramel. A bit bitter now, black rubber. Chocolate. With Water: very sweet caramel. Orange. Nuts. Raisins. Pepper. Dry. Thinner.
Finish: hot. Lots of pepper. Some burnt rubber? Sweet caramel. A bit dry. Apricots. With Water: rather drying spice, lots of pepper. Sweeter. Orange, apricot. Medium length, tails off with a bit of a bitter, black rubber note.
Summary: this is very hot neat, hotter than expected, and I think that covers some of the flavor. It’s dominated by caramel. Water seems required to knock the heat back and let it open up, but it feels thinner on the palate. Water did bring out more fruit, pepper, and made it even sweeter. Reminds me of the syrup around a chocolate covered cherry. Overall this is a fairly simple one, way too sweet, with a surprising amount of spice on the palate. I dig this subtle maritime note running through it which redeems it some.
Would I buy a bottle? no
Final Score: 77.
Bunnahabhain 10 Year (2009) Signatory Vintage
Distillery: Bunnahabhain
Bottler: Signatory Vintage (SV)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 68.5%, cask strength
Age: 10 years old. Distilled on 03/17/2009. Bottled on 02/11/2020.
Cask type: First Fill Sherry Butt
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 571 bottles, from a single cask #900075.
Nose: apricot, nectarine. Caramel. Honey. Ethanol. Very shy. Floral. With Water: more fruit, sweeter. Still sharp. More floral, a bit earthy. A little brine.
Taste: a bit thin, dry. Sweet caramel. Honey. Apricot. Floral. Hot. With Water: thinner. Quite dry. Very sweet. Heat is gone. Mild ginger. Oaky spice.
Finish: bright fruit, apricot. Sweet caramel. Floral. Hot. Mild ginger spice. Rather short finish that fades to mild spice. With Water: more fruit, sweeter, oakey. Quite dry. A bit bitter off the end of the still short finish.
Summary: okay, I mean, it’s 68% so I’m not surprised it reads a bit hot neat. Not as hot as I would have expected though, and honestly on-par w/ the 60% OB above. It’s very shy on the nose, and water doesn’t open it up all that much. It’s surprisingly floral, and water does bring out some earthiness and some brine, along w/ more fruit and the nose ends up quite nice. Pretty sweet and surprisingly spicy on the palate, with water bringing more oak out of it for me. The finish is rather short, big on oakey spice, bright fruit, and sweet caramel. Overall a nice, fruity, simple dram that’s just fine.
Would I buy a bottle? nah
Final Score: 77.
Comparison
Order: IB > OB
This is a coin toss to some degree. They’re both fine, but nothing more. The OB has more going on, but it’s sickly sweet to me. I dig the floral nose on the IB despite it being much more simple, and the weak finish.
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 