When asked what my favourite whisky is, I’ll always bring up the Bunnahabhain 18 year old.
It’s almost like drinking cake. Yes, drinking cake.
First off, let’s address the elephant in the room. It’s pronounced boo-na-hub-en. Spelling it will be even more fun (we did it about 20 times).
Rather imaginatively, the whisky draws its name from the distillery, also named Bunnahabhain. The distillery is located in a town, also named Bunnahabhain, which stands on the mouth of the Margadale river where it joins the Bunnahabhain Bay. The town is located on an island, also named Bunna… actually, it’s located on Islay, an island in Southern Scotland. Islay is known for its peaty (smoky) whiskies. Interestingly enough, the 18 year old Bunnahabhain is not at all smoky, which makes it unique as far as Islay Scotch goes. But more on that later.
The distillery itself was founded in 1881 by a co-operative of William Robertson and brothers William and James Greenlees. Production started in earnest in 1883, and continued till 1930, where a slumping whisky market forced its closure. Re-opening in 1937, Bunnahabhain was used as the base for a blended whisky called Black Bottle. Slowly expanding, the first Bunnahabhain single malt was released in precious small amounts during the 1970s. The distillery shut down again from 1982 to 1984 and in 1999, and sold to the Edrington group, which used it to supply whisky for the blended Famous Grouse. Fortunately for us, in 2003, they sold Bunnahabhain to Burn Stewart Distillers, which made the wise move of rebranding and relaunching the whisky as we know it today.
I first came across the whisky in late 2012, where I was looking for something offbeat and in my own words at the time- “interesting”. And it is interesting. At the time, I was looking for something non-peaty, given that all I was drinking was the barbecue-like Laphroaig. So when someone recommended yet another Islay malt, I was more than a little surprised.
I told the lady at the whisky shop that I wasn’t looking for something peaty.
She told me to look harder, and I did.
It all starts with the outside. If you look at the packaging, you’ll see a few clues as to what the whisky in the bottle tastes like. The maritime influence is clear. After distillation, the casks containing the Bunnahabhain whisky are left to mature next to the sea, where they slowly acquires their characteristic taste.
A quick whiff of the whisky gives the hint of brine- smelling a little like sea spray.
That’s right, this whisky is salty. And not peaty.
But that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s not the MSG fake-salty taste. Rather, it takes on a rich, sea salt character.
Another sniff reveals a slightly baked taste- not unlike a buttery baked apple pie and toffee. Honey’s mixed in for good measure.
Not coincidentally, that’s exactly what this whisky tastes like.
Sea salt caramel. Nuts. Buttery toffee and baked, caramelised apples.
It has a heavy texture, which is another way of saying that it’s almost like having some actual caramel melting in your mouth. Thick and almost sticky, it seems to flow down the throat like honey when swallowed. The faint nutty, toffee taste remains on the tongue.
Again, it’s almost like drinking a caramel cake. A liquid caramel cake. At 46.3% alcohol by volume, this has a kick to it, but you’ll barely notice amid the natural sweetness.
Yum. A perfect whisky to finish off a nice dinner, or perhaps even dessert. It’s friendly, approachable. A good drink for people who are new to whisky and, dare I say, a bit of a sweet tooth.
Definitely one of my favourites.
The Short Version
Bunnahabhain 18 Years Old
46.3% ABV
Smells: Nuts, Toffee, Salt, Caramel, slight smoke
Tastes: baked apples, toffee, salted caramel.
I’d suggest that if you get your hands on this excellent whisky, you let it warm it up at room temperature for a bit, which helps release the flavour.
One final note: you might have noticed the term “non chill filtered” on the packaging. This is actually an important piece of information. This 18 year old whisky happens to be an updated version of this particular expression. Prior to 2010, the 18 year old was chill filtered. This process, while removing sediments and improving the look of the liquid (most visible when water is added to it), also removed some of the subtle tastes within the whisky itself. That resulted in a fine, but somewhat less complex, less interesting…and less tasty drink. You can tell the two versions apart- the new bottling is 46.3% ABV, the old one is 43%.
