Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Trio of young Islays from Maltbarn: Bunnahabhain 05 yo SV selected by Maltbarn #84 61.9%, Port Charlotte 08 yo Mba #81 57.6% and Bruichladdich 09 yo Mba #80 53.4%

We had 3 aged Taliskers recently, let's try 3 young Islay malts from a trusted bottler. 


Nose: fresh dough, fresh malt, sea salt and lots of smoke. But after 20 min almost all flavours are gone, maybe age does matter. 

Taste: powerful and hot, but that's not what we expect from light Bunna spirit. 

Finish: relatively long on salt, licorice and peat. 

Overall: well, for me perfect Bunna is some age + sherry cask + very little smoke, this one is completely the opposite and not to my liking at all. 

Score = 20 19 20 20, 79/100!

Bunnahabhain 05 yo 2011/2017 SV selected by Maltbarn #84 cask #704429 61.9%

Port Charlotte 08 yo 2008/2017 Maltbarn #81 57.6% - matured in Château Margaux cask, 169 bottles released, there should be some more bottles in existence I think.

Nose: quite rich, red fruits, leather and tobacco, soaked apples dried in a wood fire, smoke is subdued. 

Taste: all about horse stable :) or cowshed. 

Finish: medium-long, peaty, a bit tannic and sour due to the cask. 

Overall: if you like horse stables, wet dogs and all this stuff - that's your malt!

Score = 21 22 21 21, 85/100!

Port Charlotte 08 yo 2008/2017 Maltbarn #81 57.6%

Bruichladdich 09 yo 2007/2017 Maltbarn #80 53.4% - matured in Vosne Romanée cask (the region is famous for Pinot Noir red wines), 203 bottles released.

Nose: sweet, very fruity, then some candies appear followed by hints of pine resin.

Taste: powerful with lots of spices, cocoa beans and chocolate. 

Finish: long, earthy and salty. 

Overall: much more refined than previous sample. 

Score = 21.5 22 21.5 22, 87/100!

Bruichladdich 09 yo 2007/2017 Maltbarn #80 53.4%

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