Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dha
Port Askaig Méchoui
6 287
Review by @cricklewood
- Nose22
- Taste22
- Finish22
- Balance21
- Overall87
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: Bunnahabhain
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Islay
- ABV: 46.3%
Toiteach A Dha, is a remix version of one of the first regular peated expressions Bunnahabhain released a few years back. It is said to contain a higher proportion of sherry casks than the original but without detailed vatting info there's no way to know what's up. I believe it differentiates itself from the Ceobanach which uses a higher PPM malt & is vatted from all ex-bourbon casks.
I did try the original version of Toiteach a few years back (courtesy of @Robert99) and remember it mostly being a pleasant, vegetal, peppery and smoky expression that reminded me a bit of Talisker.
Nose: Milky peat (a bit like some Bruichladdich), greasy smoke at first like the inside of a BBQ or smoker, latex, vanilla and with time a bit of dried fruits. Cooked lamb fat, mineral, rocky beach shore. With time it transforms, sticky pipe Tobacco, a bit of leather, apples & cooked plums.
Palate: Acrid & smoky at first, then oily and sweet, the sherry is present here, paraffin, fruitcake, sweet mingles with salty & earthy. The peat becomes relatively gentle after the initial burst and you're left with some more savoury notes. Then it moves on to some chocolate, berries and macadamia nuts.
Finish: Overbrewed tea, dried fruit leather, pepper, a touch of carbolic and old time cleaning products and cake batter.
Blab:This is pretty solid, the sherry is more present on the nose than the palate. The nose is faithful to the old Toiteach, that latex peat minus the greener elements, that meaty greasy aspects along with the subtle contributions from the sherry set this apart from many other young Islay offerings.
I think this one would likely develop nicely over time as would my score, I would likely buy a bottle if there wasn't so many other things I want to try in that price range.
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“Cooked lamb fat”
^^^^^^ That sounds delicious. Seriously. I love lamb. The only thing close to this note I’ve found was in Springbank 15 and in Benromach 10, and I described it as “wet wool”. I think it’s similar. I’m hesitant to pull the trigger on any Bunnahabhain, however, since most I’ve tried have been “just ok” to “pretty good”, but they aren’t cheap. Maybe the unpronounceable Gaelic name is the secret to a great whisky.