Review by: The Muskox

Here’s another one I tried at a Bunnahabhain tasting last week. I think this is the oldest peated Bunnahabhain I’ve tried.

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Distillery: Bunnahabhain.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 51.8%, cask strength.

Age: 17 years old. Distilled on 12/10/2004. Bottled in 03/2022.

Cask type: Moine – Pedro Ximenez Finish from 09/03/2016.

Price: £160 from Bunnahabhain’s website.

Color: No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Nice mix of pink PX-ey fruit and meaty salty peat. Strawberry Laffy Taffy, maple ice cream, juicy stonefruit, and Dr. Pepper. On the savoury side, there’s teriyaki beef jerky, black pepper, dry seaweed, parsnips, and some good ol’ fashioned dirt. Hints of deeper sweetness – toffee, milk chocolate, and browned butter.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Arrives savoury-sweet – orange peel, kalamata olives, and milk chocolate. Deeper sherry notes here, but still sweet – bacon-wrapped figs. Chili! Some kind of savoury licoricey herb, tarragon maybe. Earth, iodine, and black tea in the middle, with a sweeter bubblegum note coming in towards the finish.

Finish: Medium. Earthy peat lifts into fruity sweetness – orange bitters, pear, and more stonefruit. A dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a hint of sweet wintergreen. Smoked peppers.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Boardwalk carnival and chili cook-off”

Notes: Pretty great – I’m not a huge PX cask fan, but there’s complexity and some nice savouriness, and it’s not overly floral or bubblegummy. That browned-butter flavour that I got in the older Bunnahabhains from that tasting even made an appearance here too. It’s probably not quite as good as the Moine Bordeaux Finish from last year’s Feis Ile.

Final Score: 85.

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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.