Bunnahabhain 16 Year (Blackadder Raw Cask)

 

Here we go again - I found another excellent deal on a Blackadder Raw Cask and - as always - simply could not say no. I should have said no, this exhausts my budget for the rest of the month for whisky or anything else, but ... a 16 year peated Bunnahabhain, with giant flakes of cask floating in the bottle? Another Dram Hunter selection from Raj Sabharwal?? Sign me up, I'll go for broke. 

Bunnahabhain, on its own, is a surprisingly fruity spirit. Their unpeated official releases - especially the new cask strength, and the older 18 year - are extremely well regarded. They also release peated spirit under two different names: Moine, and Staoisha. I don't know the difference, honestly. This is explicitly a Moine, according to the bottle. 

It's aged 16 years in ... some kind of cask. After trying some, I can state with some confidence: it's ex-bourbon. There are no sherry notes here at all. One of 96 bottles to come from the cask (mine is #14), bottled at 59.4% ABV. HUGE chunks of cask in the bottle. Let's investigate: 

Nose: Surprisingly soft, even shy and muted; takes a very very long time to unwind. Interesting, because younger peated Bunnahabhain can be VERY aggressive and brash... harsh, even. This has been softened significantly over the years. 

Oceanic, smoky, peaty, but nothing over the top. Distinctly fruity underpinnings: apple for sure, maybe some pear. Hints of stone fruit too - cherry, peach. Some herbal touches - heather? Touches of clay, dunnage. Very well balanced. 

With some water: Even fruitier, and a floral note emerges. Like apples, pears, cherries, a corsage or bouquet arranged nearby... at a pavilion by the sea. Still lots of rock salt and stone and clay marbling the aroma. 

Mouthfeel: Mega rich and thick, as expected. Huge flakes of char in the bottle and glass. 

Palate: Quite hot at first - big alcohol sweep. Then: salt, stone, soft baked fruit, lovely honey, clay, caramel, smoke. It's far sweeter than the nose implies - in fact, it's delightfully sweet for a heavily peated Islay. I've only had Bowmore that was this particular combination of honey, salt, and smoke. Like dipping a piece of apple into honey while sitting by the ocean on a windy day. Lovely.

With water: Oddly, quite the same. Salt, honey, peat, fruit, clay, smoke, and a new floral note. Really the addition of a few drops of water brings out a really distinct halo of flowers on both the nose and palate, but doesn't transform things too much. 

Finish: Medium length - salted caramel, hints of oak, smoke, peat. 

Verdict: Well, it was pricy, and I'm a fool to buy it, but it really is a model middle-aged Islay scotch. It's lovely, and balanced, and rich: peat, smoke, salt, stone, clay are counterbalanced by honey, apple, pear, cherry, caramel, flowers. Rich and rewarding. Another Raw Cask adventure successfully concluded for Blackadder - I don't know how they do it. Highly recommended.