What is your favourite Bunnahabhain?

At the risk of sounding like a contrarian, I've yet to find a single expression of Bunnahabhain that has "wowed" me. The sample of Bunna 18 year old I reviewed was good, but not great, and definitely not worth spending $180 on, at least for me. I've sampled the 12 year and the Eirigh Na Greine (spelling?) a few times and was not overly impressed. I have a bottle of the 25 Year Old, so perhaps I should open that soon to fully participate in this thread.

@OdysseusUnbound, your post does not come as a surprise at all! Haha!

I’m well aware that few like Bunnahabhain whiskies as much as I do.

Very few whisky enthusiasts have a whisky from this distillery on their top 10 list.... maybe even their top 50 list!? But I myself, have never been disappointed with a Bunnahabhain expression.

As for your comment regarding the 18 yo.... to each his own brother! But here in Japan a bottle of the 18 is about $110 US. Now, I absolutely love this whisky and would be willing to pay a higher price. But at that price over here, it just solidifies its placement on my top 10 list.

Also!

I’ve just been taking a look at Bunnahabhain’s website and I do not see the Toiteach listed amongst their expressions.

I see the Toiteach A Dha, which was a follow up to the original Toiteach I believe. But I’m not seeing the original Toiteach listed.

I have also visited some of the online shops and I have yet to find it in stock anywhere.

Does anyone know anything about this expression’s production/availability? Did I just snag one of the few remaining bottles today!??

@CanadianNinja A friend of mine loves Bunna as much (or almost as much) as you seem to. He has multiples of all the unprounouceable Gaelic editions as well as multiples of each age stated edition. I've sampled most of them and while none of them blew me away, none were off-putting either. Maybe the 25 Year Old will be the one to win me over.

@OdysseusUnbound, I‘d like to meet your friend!

I’ve never had the 25 yo. I think it’s imperative that you and I open that bottle together in order for you to give it a proper assessment!

The (original?) Toiteach was my club's whisky of the year back around 2016 or 2017.

Right on @MadSingleMalt.

I used the term original because, again I believe the Toiteach A Dha was produced as the second installment of the Toiteach line? ..... I don’t think I’m articulating this very well....

Anyway, they are two different expressions but both peated of course.

I’m thinking about picking up the Toiteach A Dha next....

Well, I have not had too many of the of the standard release Bunnahabhain whiskys however I enjoyed my tasting in Warehouse No 9. I have my eye on an 18 but it is a bit expensive for me at the moment so I am going with Bunnahabhain Ceobanach. It is one of their peated offerings and I quite enjoy it. On my trip to Islay with my Dad, Bunnahabhain was one of our favorite distillery stops.

Interesting @TracerBullet. I’d like to know, what was it about the distillery that was so appealing?

I’ve been nursing this little beauty for well over a year now. It’s down to the last 50ml and it’s safe for a while yet as I am doing Drynuary again this year. This is one of the top 5 drams I have ever had. The PX finish is just right, not overdone. I wish I had bought a dozen.

@CanadianNinja i think @TracerBullet will agree with me about what makes this distillery so appealing. It’s not the easiest distillery to get to on Islay, but it is in a beautiful location.The visitor centre is fairly small and unpretentious, but the staff are unfailingly friendly and pleasant and they are very generous with the sample pours. The distillery only offerings are among the best ever, and overall, it was one of the best experiences we had on Islay. Bruichladdich also has one of the friendliest and most generous visitor centres on Islay. Actually, they are all pretty good, but Bunnahabhain, for us, was the most memorable.

I enjoyed my Bunnahabhain XVIII 2012 bottling. I have a spare on hand and the new small batch 18. However, my most memorable dram of Bunnahabhain was from a Bunnahabhain Feis Ile Moine Port Pipe Finish which @Robert99 pour at an epic tasting. What the memory evokes real or imagined:

A cool Islay beach, sweet wine, coupled with a maritime brine breeze and a beach fire.

@fiddich1980 I like the sound of that. I think any of the Moine bottlings would be worth having. I’ll be back there in May, and I’ll be loading up.

Cheers.

Sounds great @BlueNote.

It pleases me to hear such great things about one of my favourite distilleries!

I’m just rolling back into town from visiting a friend last. During the visit we had a couple of whiskies together and wouldn’t you know it, one of the bottles he had was a Bunnahabhain 12. It was his first time tasting it and he really enjoyed it. Says he’s definitely going to explore other expressions from Bunnahabhain.

@CanadianNinja well, as soon as I get a day where I am alert, not on call, and the house is odour free I will tackle the Bunna in my advent calendar...

@Nozinan Which one is in the advent?

It’s a 10 year old bottles for the Boutique-y whisky company. More details forthcoming.

@BlueNote You pretty much hit the nail on the head! @CanadianNinja, I also personally liked the atmosphere there. Really felt like an old distillery and as @BlueNote pointed out, everyone was so friendly. In comparison, Caol Ila was our least favorite. The feel was very industrial and although we did have an excellent tasting with great staff, the overall experience just fell short of the other distilleries. Now our best tour, and I know this is not the most popular distillery on Islay for some in this group, was Bowmore. Hands down the best tour we had and that was 95% due to our guide.

@BlueNote I have this one I got last year on my visit. I have yet to crack it open.

@TracerBullet bravo! It is a brave man who will put in a good word for Bowmore on Connosr. Thank you for your useful distillery tour information. Did you get to taste some distillery special offerings at Bowmore?

@TracerBullet I had that one too. You’re in for a treat.

@Victor Yes Sir! We visited the No. 1 Vaults and got to try quite a few drams from the cask as well as bottle some from the vaults to take home. The tour was supposed to be 1.5 hours but our tour guide was having as much fun as we were (I think) and there must not have been another tour scheduled so she kept the tour going for close to 3 hours. After the vaults, she took us back into the more formal tasting area and we got to try some bottles that are, unfortunately, out of my price range. One was the 2017 Feis Ile 27 year old Port Cask. That was a very nice dram!

@TracerBullet I am not a fan of the Bowmore standard line but they have had some great releases like the Tempests and Laimrigs. I don't think one has to be brave to admit that...

What @Nozinan said.

@Nozinan, the only expression of Bowmore I have ever had which I would consider purchasing is the Tempest batch...2?

I can appreciate your experience though @TracerBullet! Good on ya!

@CanadianNinja I think I would have loved to have tried Tempest batch 2. I've only ever tasted 5 and 6.

@Nozinan, I believe it was the 2.... I know it was one of the first three batches and the number 2 is in my head so....

Regardless, Bowmore is easily one of my least favorite distilleries. Whisky preferences are completely subjective and we all like what we like, but Bowmore just doesn’t do it for me.

Gotta be the Viceroy Elixir for me. Yummy. Kind of got an old Macallan vibe to it.

Just Googled this after reading your post @Misty. Looks delicious!

It seems to go for about 30,000¥ ($300) over here, so I certainly hope it’s worth the money for those who are willing to give it a try.