Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach

Obłedne, łagodne i torfowe

I've said this often but I hate reviewing basic peated whisky. I just suck with tasting notes. This is batch 3 if that matters. Nose - Pretty basic peat profile with a touch of citrus fruits. The overall profile here is pretty clean, much more in the caol ila peat vs the southern islay. Though some of the sweet citrus here does give me some flash backs to lagavulin, but the peat is nothing at all like their profile. I have a cadenheads 11 year example of peated bunna that blows this one so far out of the water that it's insane. Taste - You do get that this is younger whisky, some ethanol and bite is here and off, but overall the citrus sweet and clean mellow smoke is here. There's some mineral notes and light clay. It's a touch salty as well. There's however no real peat punch, it's not rich, and it drinks kinda thin. I'm tasting what feels like a 40 dollar bottle and I believe this was a good bit more. I love bunna but this isn't a winner from them. 1.5, it's below average but peat lovers will enjoy it and while I think it's over priced, it's a nice change of pace if you have the money to over pay for this one.

Some time ago I promised myself to try to get a pour of every peated Bunnahabhain I can reasonably get my hands on. Reason being that most of the ones I had were just so good. There were some that were just too much for my taste buds but the majority I really enjoyed. Some I purchased afterwards. I also really like their unpeated bottlings. Bunnahabhain is one of my absolute favorite distilleries. Next on the list was the Ceobanach that I got as a sample from @Der-Duesseldorfer. It is in its root a 10 years+ old Moine at 46% ABV and this limited editions name means “smoky mist”. Nose: mild and fruity yet familiar peat, very vibrant, next to the peat the nose is more on the laid back side. There is a cookie-sweetness and salt. You definitely notice that this is bourbon cask maturation only although the typical vanilla isn’t as prominent as expected. Palate: peat like mineral oil and a bid of burned rubber - but very nicely balanced with a fruity vanilla sweetness. Much more salty now. Finish: charred wood and burned sugar with a very nice mix of sweet and brine. A straight forward whisky that doesn’t branch out into exotic flavors. Very honest with a nicely balanced combination of peat, salt and vanilla-sweetness. The nose could be a bid more intense but other than that it is a great whisky. Not as good as the Cruach Mhona but that’s probably because that one comes in 50% ABV and has some additional spices and dark fruits. But if you can’t get that this one here is also a great bottle. Edit: despite what @cascode said I added some few drops of water and for me that actually improved the nose and finish. It became a bid more fumey and the peat got more present on the finish. Got better over all in my opinion.