Tastes

Oaken vanilla, cake icing, alcohol heat, light fruitiness in a silky texture. This is well made but needs time to develop (only 3 years old at this point).

Golden raisins and honey provide a sweet, round first half before leading to a green, mildly peaty and spicy finish. The perfumy nose doesn’t really seem to predict what is coming up flavor-wise and the “high in peated malt” mention is laughable. Nonetheless, this remains a pleasant dram.

Almond paste, marmelade, toast, roasted coconut, golden raisins, cake icing… A beautiful profile! An excellent Speyside-style replacement too, very flavourful and balanced throughout.

Rich dates, orange marmelade, near viscous mouthfeel in the first half of the sip, mild smoke (no phenolics), sweet floral nectar, rather simple finish… All in all, a quite memorable dram somewhere between a Speyside sherry monster and a smoky rye whisky?

Texture’s rounder than the standard Ardbeg, but the flavor profile is still similar; plenty of smoke, ash and seaweed, but perhaps fewer citrusy accents. Can't say the port barrel contribution is clear flavor-wise (some dried fruit, but you have to look for them), yet this is still a very pleasant Ardbeg variation.

Flambéed peaches, dessert spices and hefty caramel over light char and smoke in this satisfying evening dessert whisky

This is the review for the “Classic” iteration. Delicate smoke, oaken vanilla, and caramel welcome spiciness in the second half of the sip in an otherwise smooth finish. Almost tastes like a warming bourbon at first, but then its subtle idiosyncracies give it character. Well done, and not weird at all despite its dried elephant dung used to smoke the malts and pearl millet in the grain bill.

Banana foster, flowers, cake icing, easy finish, young, good but a bit forgettable

Agave, pineapple flambéed with brown sugar, dark honey, oily mouthfeel, nice length, suggestions of floral nectar, wood in the back, honeydew, mango… Wow, this is a really unique Bunnahabhain expression!

Mildly smoky, delicately honeyed, touches of citrus and flowers, silky texture, easygoing finish, an enjoyable dram