Bunnahabhain 12 Year

This is a very good single malt scotch. Very fragrant with a lovely mouth feel. It’s fruity and floral, a bit of yummy smoke for balance. The taste is delicious, sweet and savory with a bit of tartness. All smooth and enjoyable. Will get a larger bottle.

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 6, 2020 I wanted to grab a whisky from the lists @Jan-Case and @PBMichiganWolverine provided, but of all those whiskies recommended, there was literally only one on the shelf at my go-to-place. This store does an exceedingly good job getting bourbons, including the allocated stuff, but I’m realizing the scotch section is actually pretty small. Supply and demand in Indiana, I suppose? There are about half as many scotches available as there are rye whiskies, and there are at least 5 times as many bourbons. I think they may actually have more Japanese options than scotches, though most of them are locked up. Despite the odds, I was able to find this one scotch, a recommendation from @Jan-Case. Cheers! Also, I somehow already had a beautiful scotch glass from this distillery, and I have no idea how this happened. Nose is faint. I’m having trouble with this one. It’s still grassy and sweet, so I’d say raisin and grain. Slight vanilla. Body has cane sugar, caramel. It’s absurdly sweet. Desert sweet. Finish hits with cinnamon and smoke. That cinnamon actually reminds me of bourbon, but an odd peat rising at the end (odd if this were a bourbon, that is). This is strange. Nose of a Balvenie/Glenlivet, which I googled to discover they were both Speyside, body and finish of a low-heat bourbon with peat mixed in. I dig it. This was from the Isle of Islay region, and I’m just starting to realize the relevance of this information when tasting scotches. I had always assumed this was a bourbon vs Tennessee whiskey territorial thing, but I’m reading that there’s a good deal more to it than that. Luckily (through genuine dumbass luck) the 4 scotches I recently bought come from 4 different regions. I’ve now tried Speyside, Islands, and Islay. Tomorrow will be Highlands! ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

I don't understand why they say it's a smattering of smoke. It is way too smoky for me.