Bunnahabhain 1997 Review

Country: Scotland

Region: Islay

Brand: Bunnahabhain 1997 Heavy Peat

Selected by and Bottled for Wilson & Morgan, Edinburgh

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 13 Years

ABV: 46 %

Colour: Old Gold

Nose: Lots of Peat as could be expected but it does not present itself in an aggressive way. It's comparable to the Softer Vegetative Peat from Orkney and Skye. Consequently I get a bit of this Cabbage Aroma that I don't care for very much. I also suspect the presence of some Sulphur. I got visions of someone striking a match while sitting in Wet Grass. Besides that I also find Meat (Salted Cured Meat rather than Juicy Fat Bacon), Leather, Tobacco, Ashes, lightly Buttered Dry Biscuits, Light Sherry, Lemon and Grapefruit. Some Mineral tones as well.

Palate: Slightly Watery texture. This Bunnahabhain could have been bottled at 50% in my opinion as the Alcohol is nicely integrated. The Palate basically follows the Nose with Peat, Leather, Ashes, Lemon, Black Pepper, Bitter Almonds, Salted Bacon, Herbs, Dry Biscuits, Brown Sugar, Cereals, Wood and light hints of Rubber, Cabbage and Sulphur.

Finish: Bitter-Sweet and Herbal at first and Dry towards the end with Peat, Leather, Ashes, Licorice, Mint, Malt and hints of Rubber and Chocolate.

I added a couple of drops of water. On the Nose the Peat is enhanced and some extra Buttered Toast and Pastry are added. On the Palate and in the Finish Citrus, Licorice and Ashes start to dominate. The Ashes will stay with you for quite a while.

Rating: 84 

Nose:  21 - Taste:  21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21

General Remarks: The Wilson & Morgan Company is an Independent Bottler, based in Italy. Owners are the Rossi family that started importing Blends in the sixties. Single Malt Selection was added in the 1980's and in 1992 Wilson & Morgan was founded by Fabio Rossi to attend the high end Single Malt market. At various distilleries, W&M selects barrels for their Barrel Selection series. Most of the casks mature at the distillery itself. The Bunnahabhain I'm tasting today was distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2011. No artificial colouring was added and the Whisky is not Chill-Filtered. It sells at around 55 US Dollars. 

Bunnahabhain (Mouth or Foot of the River) Distillery was founded around 1881 and is located close to Port Askaig. Usually, the Distillery dries the Malt with hot air or light Smoke giving their whisky a more subtle flavour then most of its Peated neighbours on the island. So today's expression is the exception and not the rule. The distillery normally uses a mix of Ex-Bourbon, Ex-Sherry and Refill Casks to mature their whisky.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: This Bunnahabhain expression is labelled Heavy Peat and that's slightly misleading. For sure Peat is the most important Aroma and Flavour but it's not the Heavy Briny Medicinal Peat we know amongst others from Laphroaig or Ardbeg. It's much more comparable to the Softer Vegetative Peat we find in Jura or the peated expressions from BenRiach. Still, you need to be a true Peat lover to fully enjoy this 1997 Bunnahabhain as other Aromas and Flavours are there but play second fiddle. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                     June 18, 2013