All hands on deck!..
So the idea of today's session was to taste official Bunnahabhains dating back to 1960-s. It was quite a task to gather them, though we succeeded and let the feast begin.
Bunnahabhain 12 yo (bottled in 70-s for S.I.L.V.A. Bianchi S.P.A. in 70-s) 43% - the oldest 12 yo expression I was able to find.
Nose: fresh one, honey, lemonade, ginger, nuts and sea air. Then some whiffs of radish come, after 15 min you can get subtle sulfur notes, but they quickly disappear and finally it's on yellow tropical fruits - pineapple and bananas.
Taste: sweet and salty, oily, quite dense for 43%, hints of ginger and white pepper.
Finish: the same story with 3S - sweetness, saltiness and spiciness.
Overall: for a regular 12 yo it's just great, we took a dram of modern Bunna 12 yo 46.3% for comparison, it was decent but felt quite sharp comparing to the older one (40 years in a bottle must have settled the spirit down) and definitely not so fruity.
Score = 21.5 22 21.5 22, 87/100!
Alexey Ostrovskiy: 86/100
Andrey Erofeev: 87/100
Artur Reznik: 87/100
Igor Grebenik: 87/100
Max Sergunin: 86/100
Sergii Kryvko: 87/100
Timur Kvaterniuk: 86/100
Valerii Kalendar: 86/100
Average score = 86.6/100!
Bunnahabhain 1963/1997 43% - this year was the last one when Bunnahabhain was using their own maltings, the style should be different.
Nose: composed, but rich, sea air and saltiness, whiffs of oak, coal smoke, spices and fruits. Slowly unfolds into leather saddle and horsestable, what a beauty!
Taste: noticeable smoke (actually not peat, but rather wood smoke), sweet start on fruits and honey which transforms into dry and austere finish.
Finish: long, quite dry, smoky, salty and spicy (another 3S here). Seems to end up, but then comes another wave of salt, smoke and spices.
Overall: much more smoke than you can expect from old Bunna, beautifully aged whisky, sort of an old sailorman, you know.
Score = 23 23 22 23, 91/100!
Alexey Ostrovskiy: 88/100
Andrey Erofeev: 90/100
Artur Reznik: 91/100
Igor Grebenik: 89.5/100
Max Sergunin: 88/100
Sergii Kryvko: 90/100
Timur Kvaterniuk: 90/100
Valerii Kalendar: 87.5/100
Average score = 89.3/100!
Bunnahabhain 1965/2001 Feis Isle cask #7159 53.9% - 1 of 594 bottles, single sherry cask.
Nose: wow, completely another style, fresh and fruity, chocolate, tons of grapes skin, iodine, sea, sour plums, gooseberry jam.
Taste: fresh and powerful, burst of tropical fruits, mint leaves and anise seeds, white pepper, ginger and nice oak. Quite chewable at this strength.
Finish: long, starts as sweet honey, though the end is dry and mouthwatering.
Overall: very fresh and clean malt, would never guess Islay in blind tasting.
Score = 22.5 23.5 23 23, 92/100!
Alexey Ostrovskiy: 92/100
Andrey Erofeev: 91/100
Artur Reznik: 91/100
Igor Grebenik: 90/100
Max Sergunin: 91/100
Sergii Kryvko: 89/100
Timur Kvaterniuk: 93/100
Valerii Kalendar: 91.5/100
Average score = 91.2/100!
Bunnahabhain 1968/2002 Auld Acquaintance 43.8% - 1 of 2002 bottles (vatting of several sherry casks).
Nose: so smooth... purple velvet and and red silk, overripe cherries, dark plums, nuts, coffee, some sea, touch of smoke, soft spices and Christmas cake.
Taste: very rich, dark fruits, nuts, bitter chocolate, hints of salt, spices and smoke, goes from sweetness to dryness and back.
Finish: long, berries and chocolate, sherried oak (imagine you're licking these casks from inside) and soft spices.
Overall: quite perfect expression of sherried Bunnahabhain to put it shortly.
Score = 24 23.5 23.5 24, 95/100!
Alexey Ostrovskiy: 90/100
Andrey Erofeev: 94/100
Artur Reznik: 94/100
Igor Grebenik: 92/100
Max Sergunin: 94/100
Sergii Kryvko: 94/100
Timur Kvaterniuk: 95/100
Valerii Kalendar: 93/100
Average score = 93.4/100!
Conclusion from Andrey Erofeev (can't be said better):
Bunna 12 yo - great warm-up malt with lots of honey and tropical fruits.
Bunna 1963 - smoky, salty and spicy. A style rarely met in Bunnas at the moment.
Bunna 1965 - fresh and winy. Explosive taste.
Bunna 1968 - sherry bomb. Nearly perfect.
The rest of the crew:
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| Sailing Master |
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| Master Gunner |
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| Boatswain |
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| Quarter Master |
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| Carpenter |
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| Ship's Master |
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| Surgeon |
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| Sailing Master is looking beyond the horizon |
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| Powder Monkey :) |
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| Cook |
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| Rigger |
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