If you’ve read the previous blogpost, you’ll already know which whiskies I’ll be covering throughout this series. The basic idea is to pick 5 whiskies that showcase the wide variety of flavours, tastes and other sensory experiences the golden amber has to offer, assuming/hoping/expecting that at least one of them would be able to help people new to the stuff to get a better appreciation and understanding of our beloved water of life. There’s literally thousands of options to choose from, but I deliberately narrowed things down to a specific category, focussing on what I believe are quality scotch single malts that are available and affordable to most of us – i.e. ticking the ABCD boxes, and sitting in the €40-€55 price range. So to round up the quick ‘bring you up to speed’, I decided to let distinctive flavour profiles do the talking, hence why I picked whiskies that I believed are textbook examples of
- a bourbon cask matured whisky (Balblair 12yo)
- a sherry cask matured whisky (Bunnahabhain 12 yo)
- an old school style whisky (Benromach 10 yo)
- a peated whisky (Ledaig Sinclair Series Rioja cask)
- an ‘odd one out’ (Inchmurrin 12, which I won’t review for this series as I picked that one as my budget whisky of 2023)
Seeing how I explained at length how this series came to be in last week’s post, let’s dive straight into the actual whisky, shall we?!
Bunnahabhain 12 yo (2023 release), 46.3% ABV, ex - bourbon & ex- sherry cask matured, NC, UCF, app. €50
When it comes to picking a good quality ‘entry level’ sherry cask matured whisky, we are really spoiled for choice. Aberlour 12, Glenfarclas 15, Glendronach 12, Tamdhu 12, Glenfiddich 15 and probably at least half a dozen others could all be considered valid and obvious choices as they’re all classics in their own right. In recent years, Glenturret and Royal Brackla have been knocking on that door as well. With choices a plenty, you might think it would've been hard to pick just one with the aim of luring people into whisky, but in fact it was propbably the easiest choice I had to make when deciding on the line-up. It only makes sense to go with Bunnahabhain 12 if we put our ABCD checklist next to it: comes with an age statement, it's untampered with and bottled at an attractive ABV, ensuring it'll cary both flavour and texture. It’s a classic and a staple to many, and deservingly so. I’ve been through my fair share of bottles of this expression throughout the years and was never dissapointed. At the same time, it was also a bit of a reintroduction for me, because it must’ve been 3 , if not 4 years since I last bought a bottle. Shame! Shame Shame! Time to rectify, me thinks!
Nose
Spices and red fruit combined, with cherries and berries, going into a drying, stewed jam note. Nuts and gentle toffee and caramel. With a drop of water it turns more green-herbal with cola cubes and rhubarb, sitting on an oily sensation.
Palate
Rich, red fruit notes and forest fruit with a lot of berries, just ever so slightly peppery. Very nutty, on a dry, medium full mouthfeel with a very pleasant salinity. Even more nutty elements after adding water and less drying.
Finish
Pleasantly long, dried fruits, woody and salty.
Final thoughts
What can I say? This is so approachable and pleasant, and it scores points across the board. It doesn’t matter whether you’re new or whether you’re well on your way in to whisky, this one more than delivers. Flavour, layers and depth: it’s all here and wile it has a lot to offer, it’s never asking any difficult questions. It brings everything you could want from a sherry cask matured whisky, without it ever turning into a monotone stereotype or a one trick pony. It’s oily, nutty, with bags of red fruit and spices, while it’s never turning overly sweet. I know there is some bourbon cask influence here, but rather than leaving its mark, I believe its prime role is toning the sherry casks down a wee bit, and it does a splendid job too. As a result, all the flavours are so well in tune and so wonderfully balanced. No surprise then, that bare one or two people attending the tasting, this was a favourite to many present that evening. Getting reacquainted with this myself, I can’t believe I’ve ‘ignored’ this for as long as I did. Full of flavour, engaging and compelling, and price to quality ratio, particularly in this day and age, an absolute no-brainer! 85/100
Definitely a good choice. For the price, really can’t be beat in the category.
This one is a staple in my cabinet. Like you said, it is approachable for the beginner and remains interesting and rich in experience for a seasoned whisky drinker. On top of that it has remained a good value for an ABCD dram.
I'm pleased to read that this one impressed as I expected 😊. This is one of my serious contenders for that "whisky you want if standed on an island" award 😆. Cheers!