Bunnahabhain 16 Year Old 1997 Chester

The Feis Ile has only just ended, so might as well try a few Islay drams. I will put two Bunna H2H, both bottled by Chester. The first is this 16 Year Old Bunnahabhain on refill sherry hogshead, the second a 22 Year Old on bourbon. Let us get to it!

On the nose… oh, boy, this is sauerkraut in the extreme! Smoked sausage and bacon on the BBQ, mustard seed and, basically, that is it. These aromas are truly overpowering and leave no room for anything else. Well, maybe some mashed patatoes with leeks. Surprising, but hardly great in my book. Maybe I should add a little water? Nope, it still does not work for me.

Creamy and mildly burnt on the palate. No, this is not my kind of dram. The smoked sausage is turning black on the BBQ. Luckily a few sweeter elements emerge to rectify the situation somewhat. Think sweetened espresso and dades wrapped in bacon. With water I also get some nuts, but this dram cannot be saved.

The finish is long and smoky and the only part of the whisky that I truly like.

Chester has bottled good and better whisky, but this one if absolutely not my quaich of uisge. Around 75 EUR.

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