Wandering around Finlaggan’s historical ruins of a meeting house, chapel, and various other structures long since demolished prompted us to stop and consider the kinds of things that these sorts of places are very good at prompting. As the ruins sit symbolically on a tiny island within a loch on Islay, and as we touched the stone walls as they started to cast shadows across the water at sunset, with orange skies drifting into pink clouds as the sun slowly descended, we each reflected how short a time we’re all here for. To be different and standout from the norm takes courage and a whole lot of conviction. But sometimes, standing out from the norm is required for survival. Our Service is an online platform which provides Members with information (e.g. bottle facts, market-indices, market values and prices) on (mostly) whisky and allows Members to add information to the platform. We do not sell, nor does the Service provide any option to buy, any alcoholic products. Bunnahabhain master blender Julieann Fernandez said: “I’m really proud of this year’s 12 Year Old Cask Strength release. Even bigger and even bolder than its predecessors, with an ABV of 60.1%, it epitomises everything that Bunnahabhain is known for: unpeated, sherried and full of intense flavour, offering big hits of roasted nuts and cinnamon spice in every dram.

And if so, will there be added desire from Islay whisky makers to produce more non-peated Scotch whisky? We know of occasionally unpeated Caol Ila and Ardbeg as well as other small-scale runs here and there, but not a defined profile or brand. Perhaps a new whisky alongside Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich; a non-peated malt with less difficult pronunciation, perhaps? However, if you’ve found a particular article valuable, you also have the option to make a direct donation to the writer, here: buy me a dram - you’d make their day. Thank you. Driving around to different parts of the island also revealed its very different landscapes. The relatively flat (for Scotland) moorland between Bowmore and Port Ellen felt calm to the more blustery Bruichladdich on the far side of Loch Indaal. The slightly more wooded south coast had a more bucolic sense than the remote feel of the ancient historical seat of the Lords of the Isles at Finlaggan. The 2022 12 Years Old Cask Strength release has been matured in first- and second-fill oloroso sherry casks – as was the first 12 Years Old Cask Strength release in 2021 – which the distillery says impart notes of "intense dried fruits and warm cinnamon spice". The new expression is bottled at 56.6% ABV. Palate: Hazlenuts, drizzled with milk chocolate. A touch of salinity is balanced by crisp green apple, poached pear, and clove.Wonderfully sherried dried fruits, chocolate boozy raisins, cinnamon, and a waft of coastal quality.The chalkiness (or oakiness) of the 2021 is completely absent here. If you see this on offer, get it. For fun, pour it alongside something heavily peated, say the Port Charlotte 10 and/or a Ledaig 10. Just to gauge as to how different in phenolic level this whisky actually is, and how there’s still enough of the maritime element in there to make it scrumptious anyway. Lovely stuff. From what I can find this cask strength version has a slightly bigger percentage of sherry casks in its recipe, compared to the standard release. Without prejudice to the section Liability below, the Service may be temporarily unavailable during maintenance, updates, etc. We shall make reasonable efforts to inform you of any unavailability due to maintenance or updates.

We may, but are not under any obligation, to release new functionalities and tools or other features for the Service every now and then. Any new functionalities, tools and features shall be part of and governed by the Terms from the moment they are launched and/or available. Further, we reserve the right to modify, change, discontinue the Service, add or remove features, update the Service, change its appearance, temporarily and permanently, at any time, in whole or any part thereof. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, the remainder of the Terms shall continue in full force and effect. Some punchy spice at this strength, the sherry influence is of course prominent, plus toffee and cinnamon. But there’s also a chalkiness punching through the sherry, which might some it might come across as oakiness to someone else. To me, it’s not present in the standard 12 year old. Bunnahabhain Bottler Distillery Bottling Bottling serie Cask Strength Edition 2021 Bottled 18.08.2021 Stated Age 12 years old Casktype Ex-Sherry Strength 55.1 % Vol. Size 700 ml 750 ml Bottle code 2276085 L5 xx:xx 21230 Barcode 5029704220601 Added on 22 oct 2021 3:32 pm by islebedrammed Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.

The trouble is that the expectations we have in whisky are often more about us than about others. As Ogilvie discussed recently, each of our whisky journeys are woven through with expectations. We build up bottles in our eagerly anticipating brains to levels that defy anything approaching common sense. FOMO is one manifestation in whisky of failed expectation management. I see that the Next Best Bottle has just been released, and my mind, nose, and taste buds form a boisterous conga line coaxing me to join, merrily and unthinkingly guiding me to shell out some hard-earned money for it. This sometimes happens with a distillery I’ve yet to try, but more often it’s from a distillery I know and have enjoyed bottles from before. It’s the worst with distilleries that are in the handful of what I’d call my favourites. I find myself enjoying this 2023 release just as much as last year’s more sherried release, but – importantly – for different reasons. This is not a repeat of the 2022. I repeat: this is not the 2022, so if you are expecting that with this, you may be either surprised or disappointed, or both. That the distillery has decided to make the 12 year old cask strength release explicitly batch variable means that we now have three very distinct drams across three years that showcase different aspects of the spirit.

Interested in trying drams like these? We've created the Two Whisky Bros Dram Club to help you get access to high quality, rare whisky by the dram. Bunnahabhain is a robust and complex spirit, unpeated and oily but with sweet notes of dried fruits and cereal, and it means that the spirit can really take on the big flavour profiles that come from the full maturation in the sherry casks.” If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. But there’s batch variation for sure, and that’s what, many of you dear Dramface readers, may be more interested in. How does this compare to last year’s 2022 sherry belter, or 2021’s first release?Nice oily texture and mouthfeel. The chalkiness or oak on the nose carries through to the palate.It’s not off-putting, but it’s quite prominent and not something I recognise in the standard 12 and therefore unexpected.Light chocolate notes alongside warming sherry and dried toasted nuts.Ever so slight saltiness. Nice, but not the big brother of the standard 12. There are lots of spheres of life where this approach pays off: sharing the road with lunatic drivers, my mother-in-law’s cooking, or the perpetually scatter-brained friend who can never manage to make a night out even after suggesting it himself. Yet, these are expectations I have of others, not expectations I hold for myself. This distinction is key to how expectations in whisky continue to raise us up, befuddle us, and sometimes come crashing down on our earnestly eager heads.

Nose: Chocolate buttons, cranberries, and cherries, with dates and sultanas joining in time, bolstered by woody spice.This second release is of course similar in many ways to the first, as we follow the same classic recipe of unpeated Islay spirit in oloroso. The latest expression is richer in sweet chocolate and red fruits on the nose and carries a spicier finish delivering bigger, richer and fuller flavours of oloroso sherry that Bunnahabhain drinkers have come to know and love." Bunnahabhain has since been described as a lightly peated malt, with enthusiasts occasionally leaning towards the opinion that there’s no peat whatsoever. However, the distillery buys a proportion of peated malt from Port Ellen as well as unpeated from other maltsters. It’s currently around 3-4 phenols ppm, with annual heavily peated campaigns also running. Its fierce independence and community-focused content is funded by that same community. We don’t do ads, sponsorships or paid-for content. If you like what we do you can support us by becoming a Dramface member for the price of a magazine.