Wemyss Malts has just released their first “composed” single malt: Untold Riches is a vatting of 28 hogsheads and 3 sherry butts from Bunnahabhain distillery, carefully selected and blended into a single malt. Of course all wide-scale single malt releases are a blend of multiple casks, but as Wemyss is a family of blenders they like to stress the added value of a careful composition.
The distillery is consistently spelled Bunnahabain on the packaging, simply an unfortunate mistake so not a way of avoiding copyrights or anything. There’s an age statement of 28 Years but the box mentions all individual cask numbers and fill dates (between November 1987 and December 1991).
Bunnahabhain 28 yo ‘Untold Riches’ (49,1%, Wemyss Malts 2020)
Nose: rather light and refined, the profile is certainly different from Kirsch Gateau for instance. Dried flowers and broken branches, leather book covers, hints of wet tobacco and a sourness of berries and yellow plums. Light toffee in the background. Floral honey and a whiff of sea air too.
Mouth: a similar elegant profile, with a very clean sherry influence but no heavy hitting whatsoever. Plums and dates, red apples and orange peels, with an enjoyable tart note and minerality. Subtle hints of walnut cake and leather. Darker towards the end, with more brown sugar and roasted pecans.
Finish: quite long, with a light hint of chocolate mixed with classic tobacco and mild oak spice (pepper, clove). The usual salty touch in the aftertaste.
A really harmonious composition indeed, no sherry bomb but a refined, dangerously drinkable dram with mild sherry and mild coastal notes. Thanks for the sample, Peter! Available from Wemyss Malts direct or slightly cheaper from TyndrumWhisky for instance. Later other retailers as well.