PUNI is a new distillery in the Italian Alps (the Highlands of Italy, so to speak). It was set up in 2010 by the Ebensperger family and they have been distilling since February 2012, using alpine water, locally sourced grains, traditional Forsyth & Sons pot stills and remarkable maturation warehouses. After three years, their first whisky (the first Italian single malt) was bottled in October 2015.
PUNI uses three types of malted cereals in order to give the Italian whisky its characteristic taste. They say “barley forms the malty, spicy foundation, wheat adds a mellow sweetness and rye brings body and depth to the spirit”.
Apart from the normal warehouses, PUNI distillery also stores some of the bourbon barrels in military bunkers from WW2. These bunkers provide constant temperatures and high humidity levels, behind 4 metres of pure concrete walls. They fill around 900 casks per year.
PUNI Nova is their purest expression, matured in American barrels and finished for a couple of weeks in new Limousin oak barriques. We’re trying Batch #02 which is the public release at 43%. Batch #01 is a limited ‘first edition’ at 54% (only 977 bottles).
Cool bottle design, right?
PUNI Nova 3yo
(43%, OB 2015, Batch 02/2015)
PUNI Nova 3yoNose: crystal clear lemon and grapefruit notes, very fresh. Also pears, unripe banana and pineapple and subtle floral tones. Vanilla. Secondary notes of walnuts, spicy honey and light wood shavings. A very classic white oak nose, I’d say, still young but already showing a nice complexity.
Mouth: a bit spirity, with a surprising woody edge, but still fresh and clean. And pleasantly unsweet. Yellow plums, fruit eau-de-vies, soft liquorice roots, pepper. Then back to sappy oak, grap seeds and light vanilla.
Finish: not too long, with traces of coconut and light mocha.
It’s still a bit rough and immature on the palate, but I really like the nose and see quite some potential. A promising first effort! Around € 60.
Score: 78/100