Bunnahabhain 11 Year Old Decadent Drinks Equinox & Solstice Winter Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024) 70cl
A 1st fill oloroso sherry hogshead filled in 2013 with Bunnahabhain Ardnahoe, combined with a 1st fill American oak Pedro Ximenez Hogshead, also filled in 2013 Bunnahabhain Staoisha. This delicious combination makes for a big, thick rich, velvety dram.
This is Decadent Drink's Winter 2024 edition of Equinox & Solstice series. It's a 2013, 11 year old, peated Bunnahabhain matured in sherry wood.
To make this we combined a 1st fill Oloroso sherry hogshead of lightly peated Bunnahabhain Ardnahoe, with a 1st fill PX sherry hogshead of heavily peated Bunnahabhain Staoisha. This mix was left to marry for a couple of months, before being bottled at this series' trademark easy dramming strength of 48.5%.
It's a big, rich, velvety and generously peaty Bunna, full of comforting smoky warmth and nicely assertive and salty sherry character. A perfect companion for winter nights and good cheer.
Tasting Notes
Nose : Rich and densely peaty, with a clean and sharp sherry character that's rugged, salty and with a slight balsamic tang that recalls pickled walnuts and rancio.
Palate : A velvety balance of deep peat smoke, sweet tarry notes, dark fruits, hessian and liquorice. Rich, mouth filling and very satisfying.
Finish : Long, with earthy, savoury and salty elements all on display.
About Bunnahabhain
The Bunnahabhain distillery is located in the northeast of the island of Islay on the water that separates the islands of Islay and Jura. The distillery is the most northerly located on the island and has a beautiful view of the "Paps of Jura". Bunnahabhain comes from the Gaelic and means "Mouth of the river". The distillery was built at the mouth of the Margadele River. The first new spirit left the distillery in the year 1882. Little has changed or modernized the distillery to this day. Only the malting floors have been removed and in 1963 two stills were added. In the stillhouse there are two wash stills and two spirit stills. They are relatively small stills and they are heated with steam. The six washbacks are made of Oregon pine. No specific wood is used for maturing the malts at Bunnahabhain, to prevent it from influencing the character of the malt too much. A mix of bourbon, sherry and refill casks is used. Like all other distilleries on Islay, Bunnahabhain also obtains its malt from the Port Ellen malthouse. The big difference with the other distilleries on Islay is that Bunnahabhain does not dry the malt with peat but with warm air. As a result, this Islay malt has no smoke or peat flavour. The water to make the malt comes from a water source on Margadale Hill. The water from this source is pumped up from a great depth and led to the distillery via a pipeline. This is to prevent the water from coming into contact with peat.
About Decadent Drinks
"Decadent Drinks" is the name of a Scottish independent bottler of fine spirits like whisky, rum, cognac, and wine, known for its fun, creative, and sometimes satirical approach to bottling, featuring original artwork on its labels and a range of products including its original Whisky Sponge brand and other brands like Whiskyland and Decadent Drams.
48.5% ABV
70cl
