Deliciously decadent, a smoke and red wine marriage, borders at times on a little inkiness which could be enhanced by the youth of the spirit here which brings so much power to that smoke. Later it is sweet dry and nutty and still delicious.
At cask strength this is rich but a touch on the spicy side for me, with water this mellows into more buttery caramel. A great example of Bunnahabhain’s fruity distillate pairing well with Marsala wine finishing
Something about the caramel, nut and chocolate combination enhanced by a sprinkle of smoked sea salt adding that depth and richness means Bunnahbhain is so moreish for me. I still rate this as one of the best 12 year old whiskies.
A rather complex and full expression encompassing all of Bruichladdich from rich cereal barley, through a veritable cocktail of fruit with a small wine-tour intermission including warehouses full of oak casks and ending with that characteristic sea spray. A great summary of the last 20 years at Bruichladdich!
A delicious introduction to Dingle distillery and rather accomplished for its age, rewarding the use of 1st fill casks this is rich and fruity and has plenty of chewy woody influence too.
Having been filled into the cask at 84%+ ABV this has had much more of a cask/cask char extract effect rather than mellowing/maturation. That said this whisky is still remarkably smooth at 69.3% ABV!
Noticeably younger and much more buttery, more woody/caramel notes come through on the nose and the cereal and slightly grassy/stalky/herbal quality is left until the finish here.
Another interesting spin on the Bruichladdich core flavour, perhaps not so cereal-forward here and evolves into some much greener fruit flavours too.
The best so far for me, generous fruits but really well textured and rounded, there is a real depth in this that comes from the Bere Barley which just adds that extra something to the palate here.
Thanks to the Islay-grown barley this cask/distillate has much more up-front minerality and also much more barley ‘husk’ and nutty cereal flavour.
