Bunnahabhain 12 Year Cask Strength (2023 Edition)

Noses raisin, dried strawberry, toffee, walnut, Nutella, pizza crust. The palate is like a dried fruit heavy trail mix, with fruit, nuts, M&Ms, salt. It’s not too hot neat, but I think opens up nicely with a little water. I like this, but I’m not sure that it’s any better than a Batch Strength Tamdhu. The salty note maybe makes it stand out as slightly different. If it’s available in the 85-95 range in your area I’d say give it a whirl, but I wouldn’t pay any more than you can get the Tamdhu. I overpayed a bit for this one because it’s not distributed to my state.

The strangest Islay whisky. No smoky, verystrong and high alcohol content.

Nose: salted caramel, toffee and nougat. Palate: underripe banana, more salted caramel and toffee, spicy cinnamon bark, peanut brittle, rum raisin bread pudding. Finish: Long with more of the same dessert notes, doughy cinnamon rolls, and underripe banana. Even at cask strength it’s still very drinkable and quite enjoyable. I’m not usually a fan of cask strength sherry bombs, but this one is magnificent. The salty notes help taper the sweetness of the sherry, making this a very well balanced dram.