Last year we were doing tasting dedicated to official Bunnas from 1960s, this year we decided to explore different (though respectable) ages and vintages from different bottlers.
Initial set as follows:
Bunnahabhain 34 yo 1980/2014 Specialty Drinks 46.6% - matured in a sherry butt.
Nose: nice and elegant, sweet lemonade and salt, quite close to Bunna 30 yo Mba.
Taste: spicy, salty and peppery, maybe a bit too thin.
Finish: medium-long with lots of salt.
Overall: very good, almost 90/100.
Score = 22.5 22 22.5 22, 89/100!
Bunnahabhain 30 yo 1987/2017 Maltbarn #68 48.7% - 88 bottles released, tasting notes can be found here. Overall it's richer and more balanced than the previous one.
Score = 23 23 23 23, 92/100!
Bunnahabhain 30 yo HL Kinship 2018 52.8% - 372 bottles released, batch of 2 sherry hogsheads.
Nose: rich and refined on sweet sherry, coffee, honey, citrus, dry grass.
Taste: intense on leather, oak, spices, notes of tarragon and balsamico!
Finish: very long, salty and sweet at the same time.
Overall: goes 1 point up comparing to previous one, really great dram it is :)
Score = 23 23.5 23.5 23, 93/100!
Bunnahabhain 40 yo 1973/2013 the Whiskyman 48.5% - 155 bottles released, most likely that was ex-bourbon hogshead.
Nose: fresh and fruity with lots of cream, vanilla, soaked apples and spices, after a while it gets quite tropical (bananas!) and grassy.
Taste: ueber-fruity, some saltiness and dry oak at the end.
Finish: long and smooth with lots of tinned fruits, grains, herbs and soft spices.
Overall: stunning dram and the best nose of the evening for me.
Score = 24 22.5 23 23.5, 93/100!
Bunnahabhain 42 yo 1968/2010 Monnier Trading 43.8% - 180 bottles released, matured in a refill sherry butt.
Nose: malty, fruity, not too shouting, but very confident.
Taste: oily, smooth, quite waxy which is peculiar and full basket of apples, pears, mangos and oranges.
Finish: long one with all those fruits + hints of pepper, mint and resin.
Overall: can't decide which one of the last 3 drams is better, they all are different but stunning.
Score = 23 23.5 23.5 23, 93/100!
And a pair of bonus bottles:
Bunnahabhain 36 yo 1975/2011 TWA Perfect Dram 56.8% - 394 bottles released.
Nose: richest sherry profile showing coffee, prunes and oranges. Quite delicious. Later on you get lots of chocolate and wood.
Taste: well, powerful but quite narrow mainly on oak spices and sherry.
Finish: medium-long, spicy and bitterish (that's oak again).
Overall: too much cask influence for me, can't find Bunna salty oiliness. But some respested guys put high marks, so that's really matter of personal taste.
Score = 23 21 21 22, 87/100!
Caol Ila 33 yo 1983/2017 Cadenhead 50.2% - 198 bottles released, matured in a bourbon hogshead.
Nose: yeah, that's what aged Caol Ila is about - palette of grass, wet leaves, brine and lightest smoke.
Taste: sexy combo of salt, citrus and pepper.
Finish: delicate but long one, touches of salt, citrus, kippers and olive oil (almost Port Ellen profile).
Overall: very nice Caol Ila, I presume 175-th Cadenhead Anniversary series is a quality mark, get them when you can.
Score = 23 23 23 23, 92/100!
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