Tastes

On the nose,not quite ripe cherries. Brine. Peat, but it disappears after a few sniffs. Vanilla custard. Something sour. Palate, salt, cinnamon, lemon peel, smoke, cedar. Finish, smoke, ribbon candy, lemon Overall, this was okay. I didn’t get on with it too well. It is unique. The Fino is not a dark, rich sherry. It’s very light and, in my opinion, can’t quite do battle with the Laphroaig character.

This whisky was very tight lipped for about a month in the bottle, but now it’s starting to open up to me. On the nose, there’s a light peat smoke with a Hubba-Bubba bubblegum hiding behind it. I get some lemon zest, but like a lemon zest mixed with sugar. Little bit of waxy apple skin. Pear. Vanilla oatmeal. Palate is so luxurious. Very thick and oily. Waxy, lemon rind, cereal, hint of smoke. Waxy like clynelish. Lemony like an Ardbeg can be, but obviously toned down. Menthol on the finish. Some of the waxiness. Pest smoke. Little sweetness of some kind. Overall a nice dram. A bit overpriced for my liking, but the distillery is doing cool things. You can scan a QR code in the bottle and get a breakdown of every barrel that went into the whisky. Very cool. Will definitely try another expression from this distillery.

So, like all Bruichladdichs that I’ve had, this guy takes a while to open up. I had the previous Bere release. Its nose was straight musty grains. This release smells like under-ripe pears, green grape, artificial apple. Malt and vanilla backbone. At the end is the dusty grain scent that dominated the previous release for me. Palate has a slight salinity, pepper, waxy apples and pears. It has beautiful viscosity. Vanilla. Brown sugar. The finish is respectably long. White pepper. Kind of a mint. Lots of underripe pear. Wax. This is a bright and precocious dram. I thoroughly enjoy it, but fair warning that I like most Bruichladdichs. The Distiller score of 93 is justified.

If you haven’t had Bunna 12, this is a tasty dram. Other reviewers aren’t wrong; it is hot because of how young it is. But it retains much of what makes Bunnahabhain such a great distillery. Respectable sherry characteristics like cherries, raisins, almonds. A decent oily mouthfeel. The maritime, salty characteristic helps mute some of the youthfulness of the whisky. And that’s where this whisky falls apart. It’s young, hot, and spicy. Where the 12 has, I would say, all the good qualities of this whisky, it also has more leather, more sherry influence, and more salinity. It is this whisky….aged for a minimum of 12 years. I actually really like this whisky. I love the Bunnahabhain flavour profile. And this whisky has it. It’s just not as good as the 12; especially when they’re priced so closely. My major knock against this dram is that Bunnahabhain makes a better whisky for, in my market, $5 more. Not a bad dram, but get the 12.

On the nose, sweet, earthy peat. Like, really sweet. On the palate, sweet vanilla, apple, pear, cinnamon, honey. The finish is mostly phenol smoke.

Whoa! This one comes loud and fast. I get a ton of tropical fruits on the nose. Papayas, pineapples, coconut. Then there is a nice vanilla and even some bubble gum. There’s a little bit of rye spice, but I find I have to really dig for it. This nose is fruity and fresh. On the palate, vanilla, dark caramel, that rye liquorice, and a building heat. The finish is warm. Cinnamon hearts, then some of that bubble gum and fruit comes back. Nice stuff and a great price. Will definitely pick up another bottle

On the nose, I get a lot of pine scent. Like, a lot. Some musty, dusty wood and then sweet orange and vanillas underneath. Palate is sweet vanillas at first then there is a building spiciness. Anise, clove, pepper. The finish is medium and drying. Oak tannins, little bit of that star anise and clove, then it turns to sweet orange. This is definitely a unique juice and unlike anything that I’ve ever tried.

Had a pour of this at a liquor store. Amazing. The nose was very rich with raisins, cream, and nuttiness. It smelled like a fruit ‘n nut bar. On the palate; wow! I’ve read many reviews of whiskies that talk about an explosion of flavour on the palate and I get it now. It felt like a water ballon popped in my mouth. So, juicy and refreshing at first. Sweet berries, leather, creamy, and then this beautiful oak at the very end. Absolutely stunning.