Bunnahabhain 7 Year (Uncharted Whisky "Whole Lotta Rose")

 

I am always curious about newcomers to the independent bottler scene, and as far I as can tell the Uncharted Whisky Company counts - established in 2020 according to the label, it's only been in the game for six years. I assume it was one of the many companies who jumped on the whisky bandwagon during the High and Crazy Covid Years. 

But I have no essential problem with that - people were buying a million bottles, stockpiling them, buying at auction, taking risks on new bottlers, new distilleries (or new to them)... it was like the whole scene was jump-started. 

The real question is: can they pick a good cask? 

This is a Stoisha - technically speaking, heavily peated Bunnahabhain that's been sold on to independent bottlers. The heavily peated stuff they use themselves they call Moine. 

Aged only seven years, one can expect some burly peat influence... but the maturation was in a red wine barrique for all seven years (!), which is rather uncommon and promises interesting things.

Red wine maturation tends to be a love it/hate it proposition. It tends to bring lots of astringency and tannins, but also lots of berries and a tangy quality and often some rich red fruit. I have had some incredible red wine-matured scotch - a wonderful couple of Auchroisk bottlings from the SMWS come immediately to mind, as well as the Ardbeg New Zealand red wine experiment bottle - so I would say I'm in the "love it" camp. 

This is bottled at 55.0% ABV after those seven years in a red wine barrique. Let's investigate the Uncharted Whisky Company: 

Nose: Peat (sea-flavored), salt, rich soft butter, pressed flowers. Light red wine, like pinot noir or cab franc. Coal. Plums.

Mouthfeel: Thin and oily, silky, coats the tongue. 

Palate: Wow, fascinating - it's like a bouquet of flowers (roses!) exploded in a peat bog by the shore. I get tons of flowers - dry ones, like the nose - hints of sweet rose water, sea salt, peat, smoke, vanilla custard, and then on the back end a huge amount of berries. 

Blueberries, raspberries... cranberries! This has to be the wine cask at work, but it's a lovely thing. 

The development itself is marvelous - the flowers sweep in, followed by rose water, followed by the coal and smoke and peat, then the vanilla and berry flavors. It's a very distinct journey.  

Finish: Roses and berries, berries and roses, all surrounded by coal smoke. Amazing and strange. 

Verdict: I love this, what a bottle! 

This has a little something for everyone, and yet I have a nagging feeling that most whisky drinkers would hate this. The rose water might be a tad soapy. The floral element is huge and overtakes the palate. The finish is rather astringent and dry. The coal dust blankets everything. 

 But for me, a devotee of strange flavors and weird and wonderful pairings, this is fantastic. Heartily recommended for fans of the strange, red wine maturation, or sweet peat.