Tastes

Not very pleasant at all, and I'm not sure what else there is to say. The palate is heavily astringent with big notes of stone fruit pits and virgin-oak-esque vanilla, but these aren't flavors that "pop" - they just remain in the background while your tongue is overwhelmed by loads of tannins and metallic alcohol. The sad part is that Glenlivet (especially when they charge $110+ a bottle) can do really amazing stuff, and while this was a fun little attempt at a novelty NAS, I can't help but feel like the diatillery came up with this as a means to get rid of a surplus of subpar casks not compatible with the style of their core lineup. I sincerely hope, however, that this is not the case.

I'm fairly certain this is an unpeated expression of Bunnahabhain but the first thing that stood out to me upon trying this was the immediate smoke present in the background; it's not an intense, peaty smoke, but it's definitely there in some small quantity as the whisky hits your palate. It certainly is a sweet dram, but sherry spiciness and high ABV do a fair job of balancing the molasses/dark fruit flavors out. This could probably pass for an antique Caribbean rum to someone without an experienced palate. I would probably save this as an evening/dessert dram, not so much because of the sweetness but rather because of the INTENSE punch it packs on your palate.