Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old
Nice name, bad balance
0 280
Review by @Max
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall80
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- Brand: Bunnahabhain
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Islay
- ABV: 46.3%
When I got a bottle of Bunnahabhain 12yo I was really thrilled with it's name and really wanted to like the whisky.
Just after I opened the bottle the nose was very nice and complex. I could get sea salt, aniseed, grass, nuts, some peat. After a while it mellowed a bit and develped nicely into some vanilla, sherry, toffee, plum and condensed milk. This was one of the most complex noses I tried!
However on the palate it wasn't so pleasant. Quite an alcohol punch, the body is quite thin and watery.
Taste has initial alcohol bite, sweet, revealing grass, nuts, toffee, some peat, chocolate, bcoming a bit bitter in the end.
Finish rewards with cherry, oak, sherry, cocoa, coffee and chocolate notes.
A drop of water develops some fruity and grassy notes. A bit more water destroys it and makes it flat.
This is a controversal whisky fot me. Maybe it's just my taste buds rioting, but I kind of liked it at first, and now, as it's just a half of bottle left, my hand usually grabs another whisky from my cabinet. With time it became less interesting and flamboyant. It's not too drinkable and lacks in a balance department.
I gave it +5 pts for my initial impressions, but I don't think I'll be buying another bottle soon. Perhaps 18yo version is worth trying.
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I hear that there is a lot of batch variation with Bunna 12. The only sample I have had of this one I didn't care for either. With that sort of experience sometimes the best thing is to give some time and then sample it again in a couple of years.