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Price: £74.99 (£64.99 Temporarily for W Club Members)
ABV: 60.1%
Chill Filtered: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Supplier: The Whisky Shop
Description: This limited edition from Islay's Bunnahabhain distillery takes its name from the Scots Gaelic for peat, Mòine, and the seven Oloroso sherry casks in which it was matured. Revealing a side of the distillery not often seen, this rich and complex single malt is presented non chill-filtered at a cask strength of 60.1% ABV.
General Comments: If you've been reading previous articles and reviews you'll know by now that Bunnahabhain is one of my favourite distilleries. If you've seen my review of the 18 yr Old though you'll also know that means that I have incredibly high expectations from this wonderful old Islay distillery. Expectations here have however been matched, and exceeded; this is obvious from the colour of the liquid as you pour it out of its black bottle, even before the wonderful nose hits you. Read more below; but if you like big whisky, this is a huge one. If you love for instance an Ardbeg Uigedaal then you are in for a serious treat.
Nose: Instantly rich with caramalised sugars and dark fruits, raisins, currants, dates, plums, prunes; the flavours are sweet, rich and powerful. I get a hint of grapes and brandy in there as well, marzipan too; maybe along with a more traditional nutty smell, Brazil nuts come to mind. This however is a whisky for drinking, and I feel I'm just wasting time here.
General Comments: If you've been reading previous articles and reviews you'll know by now that Bunnahabhain is one of my favourite distilleries. If you've seen my review of the 18 yr Old though you'll also know that means that I have incredibly high expectations from this wonderful old Islay distillery. Expectations here have however been matched, and exceeded; this is obvious from the colour of the liquid as you pour it out of its black bottle, even before the wonderful nose hits you. Read more below; but if you like big whisky, this is a huge one. If you love for instance an Ardbeg Uigedaal then you are in for a serious treat.
Without Water
Nose: Instantly rich with caramalised sugars and dark fruits, raisins, currants, dates, plums, prunes; the flavours are sweet, rich and powerful. I get a hint of grapes and brandy in there as well, marzipan too; maybe along with a more traditional nutty smell, Brazil nuts come to mind. This however is a whisky for drinking, and I feel I'm just wasting time here.
Palate: This so doesn't disappoint! First I can taste on onslaught of rich sugars and vanillans; salted caramel ice cream; especially that fancy Jude's stuff you get in Waitrose and Sainsbury's. The rich caramel, maple syrup comes in next, infused with Kirsch and swimming with assorted dark and red fruits from the nose; cherries, raisins, prunes, figs, blackberries, and again those black grapes come back and leave a red wine style finish in the mouth. The wood tannin's come in, but not too bitter; espresso and dark chocolate are unsurprisingly very much the order of the day. This is special whisky.
Finish: As mentioned above, the predominant fruity taste left in the mouthy is something that I would associate much more readily with a wine finished whisky, rather than sherry. Grape tanins are as much at work here as oak tanins, and the general impression is of a big fruity new world wine full of blackberries like an Argentinian Malbec, until liquorice starts too creep onto the palate.
With Water
Nose: The richness seems a little more golden now, as does the fruitiness. There is still a strong scent, but it seems much more like a fragrant honey, still with raisins, but maybe peaches too. Figs are definitely still in there.
Palate: An interesting difference here. I usually add five drops but here I added ten; initially it seems watery and I think I've drowned it a little, but in the mouth the viscosity becomes thicker and richer, thicker and richer; creamy, clotted cream fudge and highest quality milk chocolate are there. The honeyed fruits are still very much here, balancing out the palate, raisins and figs are the primary fruit. At this point its reminding me of both Bunnahabhain 18 yr Old at its best and the Glendronach Parliment 21 with its combination of rich Oloroso and PX . With water it really starts to become a whisky that you'd swear was a combination of PX and Olososo casks.
Finish: A rich golden and honey sweetness dominates the palate, an oakiness hels add some balance, the bitterness of rich coffee arrived, but then left leaving more of a finger trace in the rich syrup. There is an edge of fruitiness to the richness; I'm back to cherries and prunes, possibly along with dates. Regardless this is a pleasant and long lasting buzz in the mouth.
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