Bunnahabhain 46 Year Old

The oldest Bunnahabhain to date is this Bunnahabhain 46 Year Old nicknamed Eich Bhana Lìr meaning The great waves of the God Lìr.

The whisky is from a single second-fill ex-Oloroso sherry butt selected by the Distillery Manager Andrew Brown. It has been maturing in warehouse #4 since mid-1969.

Bunnahabhain 46 yo 1969 ‘Eich Bhana Lìr’ (41,8%, OB 2017, Oloroso butt, 198 btl.)

Nose: lots of lovely hints of beeswax and manuka honey, then baked apples and orange water, blackcurrants, moving towards mango and pineapples. Sweet cinnamon. Gingerbread and almond paste. Old leather and cedar as well as hints of Turkish delight. The elegance and silky character is stunning.

Mouth: starts fairly light and gentle, building on these tropical fruity notes and dried apricots. Becoming more earthy and spicy, on ginger, all-spice and a hint of tobacco again. Whiffs of wood smoke. Back to plums and chocolate. Heather honey.

Finish: medium long, on zesty citrus, sweet nuts, a faint hoppy note and old wood.

It’s quite a privilege to try such a malt. Complexity is high, the oakiness restrained and it boasts all the fruity and waxy pleasures you’d expect. Superb stuff. Around € 5600 yet most of them seem to have found an owner already.

Score: 93/100