Bunnahabhain is Marketed as "The Gentle taste of Islay" , as it is the least peated of all the Islay Malts , less than 2 ppm . Until a few years ago things were pretty thin on the ground malt wise , only the standard 12yo used to be visible on the shelf ! There was the odd special bottling , in 1981 a 1963 at 43% for the 100th Anniversary of the Distillery and a release of a 1968 in the "Family Silver" Label . Even on the Independent front the cup wasn't exactly flowing over , the SMWS had done a few bottlings along with Cadenheads but not exactly on the scale of other Distilleries .
Things looked up in 1981 when they decided to release a Feis Ile bottling of a 35yo 1965 Sherry Cask and it was stupendous ! It certainly opened my eyes to the distillery ! In 2002 another Feis Ile bottling followed , this time a 1966 at 35yo , and at the end of the year one of my personal favourites the 34yo 1968 "Auld Acquaintance " . I seem to remember seeing a 1980 around this time as well which i believe was a special bottling for "The Maison du Whisky". Every Year since 2001 there has been a Feis Ile release , they are .......
- 1965 35yo
- 1966 35yo
- 1963 40yo
- 1997 Moine
- 12yo Port wood Finish
- 14yo Pedro Ximinez Finish
- 16yo 1991 Oloroso Cask
Recent Distillery Bottlings have included ........
- 12yo
- 18yo
- 25yo
- 1968 Auld Acquaintance
- 1971 125th Anniversary Bottling
On the Independent front Bunnahabhain is well represented , for younger bottlings Douglas Laings OMC range has had a few stunning examples , Scotts , G&M , Berrys , Signatory and Blackadder has also been well represented . For older bottlings one has to look no further than Duncan Taylors Peerless Range , loads of 1960's Bunnies ! We've also had Signatory releasing releasing some of the Heavily Peated batch from 1997 .
So what does the future hold ? who knows ? Certainly not me ! I know what i would like to see , on a couple of Festival tours we've been privilaged to try a few casks of Bunnahabhains finest . I would like to see a lot more Distillery bottlings (please BSD Marketing team , lets get some of them Gems out bottled before it gets too old ! Pretty Please !!!) . I would also like to see a few more releases at 46%/Cask strength unchillfiltered / not Coloured or at least a parallel line with the original bottlings so we've got the choice . Oh and the Moine batch released as well ! It's maturing superbly ! Bunnahabhains almost a forgotten malt , lets get it out there in the front , now where do i sign up for the Bunnahabhain Appreciation Society.......
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