One of the latest in The Whisky Barrel's series of space themed whiskies is this Bunnahabhain 30 which was distilled in 1990 and aged for 30 years in a hogshead then bottled at 54.8% ABV and given the title of Artemis to commemorate the first flight of the Artemis Moon program that’s expected to launch this year. The nose starts with a mix of moderate barnyard funk, light smoke and creamy but moderately soured fruit then the barnyard funk remains but in the background of fruits of salted mango, papaya, caramelized peaches, lemon juice, and sour cherries followed by roasted macadamia nuts and dark chocolate with a caramel center before transitioning to gooseberries, ginger spice, leather and light ashy oak with high ethanol burn. The taste is a viscous mouthfeel starting with a moderate sulfur that quickly fades to a mix of moderate barnyard funk and creamy but moderately soured fruit then a bed of hay with fruits of salted mango, papaya, caramelized peaches, lemon pith, and sour cherries followed by roasted macadamia nuts and dark chocolate before transitioning to grapefruit pith, moderate ginger and black pepper spice, leather and moderate ashy oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with light sulfur, sea spray, peaches, sour lemon candy, dehydrated mangoes, plantain chips, macadamia nuts, dark chocolate, a moderate ginger and pepper spice, leather and medium ashy oak that lingers for minutes. This one is a bit of a rocket without jet fuel that at full strength is on the sour, pithy, funky and ashy side, but once you give that rocket some water as fuel to bring it under 50% ABV this whisky blasts off to another level by keeping the same notes of the full strength profile but tames those bitter and sour fruits allowing more tropical fruit through and the ashy oak becomes rich polished oak with a medium and creamy mouthfeel that’s nearly perfectly balanced. In the rocket without jet fuel state, I’d rate this at 3.5, but in the fueled up rocket blasting off state, this is damn near perfection with the main flaw being those slightly sour flavors really causing me to rate it under a 5.