Dreaming-of-Islay
Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
November 5, 2017 (edited October 21, 2024)
Thanks to Telex for this sample! Well, this may be the winner for hardest to pronounce name in the scotch world. A cursory Google search yields the meaning of the name: "smoky mist," a fitting appellation for one of this distillery's few peated expressions (an unusual distinction among Islay's whisky makers). Based on this sample, Bunnahabhain's choice to go unpeated for their main line really is a choice, not a lack of ability. Wow, this scotch is a dead ringer for Ardbeg 10 on the nose: smoke, clay, and lemon cakes. There's something in here that's similar to Caol Ila 12 as well, although with the sweetness dialed down. On the palate, a strong bite of smoke, followed by that salty, briny, spicy combination that calls to mind grilled shrimp drizzled with lemon. The finish is comparatively mild, medium in length, and again features a pleasant mixture of smoke, herbal peat, chives or some other grassy note, and citrus. It's Ardbeg 10 by any other name. Or is it Ardbeg's own doppelganger, Kilchoman Machir Bay? Close call, close enough not to matter much. It's more expensive, at $70-80, so I don't see a clear reason to prefer it over its brothers from another mother (twin-bill from another still?).
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This one is on my Christmas Wishlist. Fingers crossed. You made me even more anticipating :).
Wow - your lemon is my orange =) Cool to hear a different perspective on it. Glad you got to enjoy it!