Review by: Raygun

Wemyss has a few blended malt staples they put out—The Hive, Spice King, and so on—but otherwise mostly does single cask releases. This sort of product is unusual for them: a single malt, but batched and a relatively wide release at 6500 bottles. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Bunnahabhain (or is it Bunnahabain?)

Bottler: Wemyss Malts    

Region/style: Islay single malt Scotch

ABV: 49.1%

Age: 28 years old. Distilled from 1987 to 1991, bottled in 2020. Stated age has to be that of the youngest component, so that’s how we get to 28.    

Cask type: 28 hogsheads and 3 sherry butts, 6500 bottles

Color: 1.4 tawny. Natural color and chill-filtered.

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Nose: The sherry butts seem to be doing a fair amount of work here. Salted plums, touches of burnt match, raspberry sauce, and chocolate ganache. Some caramel apple turns up. The age is apparent.                       

Palate: Very nice. Somewhat savory again with the salted plums, date syrup, raspberry sauce, and now picking up some panna cotta and candied orange peel. The burnt match is here too. Salted caramel appears with time. The name makes sense as it is pretty rich, but the savory flavor helps. Thyme and rosemary.    

Finish: Salted plums, raspberry sauce, panna cotta. A little bit of chocolate, but not as much as the nose. Burnt match. Prune danish with a caramel drizzle. Quite tannic, with more berry flavors. The woody herbs are still there.   

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Conclusion: Another very tasty Bunna. Very sherry-driven despite the proportions involved. Even considering that a butt is 2-3 times the capacity of a hogshead, it’s still in the area of a 3-1 hogshead to sherry butt ratio, but it doesn’t taste like that. Unless some of those hogsheads are also sherry casks, which is always possible. Anyway, it’s rich as the name suggests, but the savory elements that Bunna often has cut through that some. Still not one I’d have multiple pours of: it’s dense. Strong example of big sherry.

Score: 87

Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)