Bunnahabhain 2010 9 Year (Lady of the Glen)

To start, Bunnahabhain distillery is already one of my favorites amongst Glendronach, Glengoyne, Deanston, etc. I had not tried anything from Lady of The Glen yet but it makes sense that I was immediately intrigued, if not prematurely excited, as soon as I spotted this online. This whisky that spent 9 years in first fill Oloroso Hogshead (250 liter), not one of the normal, larger, sherry butts (500 liter). It's dark! I also feel that younger Bunna shows off a wonderful, natural fruitiness which plays on the sherry very well whereas the older aged Bunna gets much more chocolaty and savory. All are beautiful IMHO. Also, did anyone mention that this thing is set at 66.7% ABV! "Wholly sherry bombs Batman!" While I did nose this without water, I was also curious enough to taste this neat. The nose is loaded with dark fruits with a big fruit punch. A bit ethonal forward at full strength but not as bad as you would guess. There's also that distinct salty sea air, floral smell of younger Bunna that I love. Water brings out the sweet fruits as well as a butter note. Maybe butter toast to go with the jammy fruit notes. The taste at full strength is a super wine fruity slap to the tongue followed by nothing since it is now numb from the 66.7% ABV. Later, with water, all of those fruits come alive on the palette. The fruits overwhelm everything but in a beautiful way. The Bunna signature is there with a slight buttery, floral note. The finish is all fruit and fairly long even after quite a bit of water. If you like Bunnahabhain and you come across this bottle for under $150, grab it, throw the money at the merchant, run home, and enjoy.