Bunnahabhain 30 yo 1987/2017 Maltbarn №68 bottled for Bootleggers 48.7%

As you might now that is special release for (but not limited to) Ukrainian whisky aficionados bottled by well-known and much appreciated German bottler. At the last these babies arrived :)

I'll try to put the long story short. Sooner or later all malt maniacs across the world come to a thought of having their private bottling to commemorate their personal taste, favourite distillery, ego etc. My friend Sergii and me weren't the exception to a rule, so half a year ago we started working on that idea. 

In the long run perfect spirit was found: 30 years old Bunnahabhain from Maltbarn. What is so special about this bottling?

1. It is aged Bunnahabhain. After tasting 1968 Auld Acquaintance back in 2009 I fell in love with old sherried Bunnas. 

2. It is 30 years old. Actually it could have been 29 yo or 31 yo, but most people like round figures and so do we. 

3. It is single cask release. 

4. It was  chosen by Martin whose bottlings can either be very good or brilliant, I have never tasted a bad one. 

5. It is special Maltbarn bottling (bottled for ...), if I'm not mistaken there exist 3 out of 72 so far released by Martin: this very Bunna 30 yo Mba #68, Ben Nevis 20 yo Mba #57 and Royal Brackla 16 yo Mba #42. 

What I am also proud of is my photo on the label. Initial photo from Northern Germany didn't suit Bunnahabhain character so well in my opinion (at least the first things to appear when someone says "Bunnahabhain" are sea and blue colour)

so I persuaded Martin to use photo not from his area (all you see on his labels except for Bunna 30 yo and Ben Nevis 20 yo was shot in Northern Germany) and found this nice picture of Islay sunset in my archives taken in 2009:

After a while final label looked like this:

Bunnahabhain 30 yo 1987/2017 Maltbarn #68 bottled for Bootleggers 48.7% - let's talk about the malt itself finally.

Nose: very fresh, starts on lemonade and lemon pie, then comes green currants note, ripe pineapples, after a while some grass and ginger arrive.

Taste: oily and elegant developing on all types of yellow fruits and soft spices.

Finish: long and spicy, loads of salt, white pepper and ginger on your tongue, tiniest hint of smoke (0.5 ppm?) and some delicious fresh note at the end (not mint actually but close to it). Quite dry initially though becomes creamier and creamier with time.

Overall: very elegant and utterly drinkable Bunna combining rich fruitiness of Speyside and dry saltiness of Highland. You won't find strong peat and ashes here and in this particular case it's great. I'd go for 92/100, but let's start with conservative rating. Need a few more sessions to be sure :)

Score = 23 22 23 23, 91/100!

Update 02.06.2017:

Nose: fresh, starts on lemonade and lemon pie, then comes green currants note, ripe pineapples, after a while some grass and ginger arrive.

Taste: oily and elegant developing on all types of yellow fruits and soft spices.

Finish: long and spicy, loads of salt, white pepper and ginger on your tongue, tiniest hint of smoke (0.5 ppm?) and some delicious fresh note at the end (not mint actually but close to it). Quite dry initially though becomes creamier and creamier with time.

Overall: very elegant and utterly drinkable Bunna combining rich fruitiness of Speyside and dry saltiness of Highland. You won't find strong peat and ashes here and in this particular case it's great. This time I'm ready to go for 92/100, the taste is great...

Score = 23 23 23 23, 92/100!