Bunnahabhain Darach Ur Batch 8

I realized last night that i am still to review anything from Bunnahabhain, although i've owned at least 5 bottles throughout the years. I've even been lucky to try the 25 year old last year, and yes it was brilliant.

I have categorized myself as a bit of an under-dog type of guy, and this aspect to my being can't get a better application, than onto this form of distillery.

Bunnahabhain is kind of the black sheep of Islay, now i know, there are many admirers, truthfully so, of the Bunna-style. There are, though, many that consider it a bit of a "fake" islay malt considering the lack of peaty-ness.

This is the 8th batch of the travel retail special called "Darach ur" or "New oak" in gaelic terms. It suggests, no surprise, that the following whisky has matured in fresh first fill white american oak barrels. Here we go..

Nose: Dominant cranberry juice comes howling to your nose followed by baking spices: Nutmeg and cinnamon. Vanilla cream, fresh pungent barley with a fresh coastal complexity. Finally raspberries, boiled sweets and salted butter.

Palate: Hot, but soft spices make a prolonged arrival rapidly gaining intensity with gingerbread, some sweeter spices (baking spices incl.) and also wood spice. Tangy coastal note with iodine and crisp, grassy sea-breeze. The bunna salted raisins also makes an appearance with some clove.

Finish: A quite long finish leaving the bittersweet barley and that oak surviving the medley and making it's last solo with nothing but some lingering wood spices and iodine remaining for a part of it.

I am genuinely surprised that this whisky doesn't have a better score. It isn't the tastiest whisky by any stretch, but it's tasty alright and very good quality. Litre-bottles of this going at 40 euros at the duty-free is a steal.

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