Bunnahabhain 1997

9 year old Islay 59.6 % vol

1 of only 597 bottles from cask 5265

From a very rare batch of peated Bunna. Previous owners produced some heavily peated whisky, shortly before the distillery was mothballed in 1999, towards an anticipated requirement for future ‘Black Bottle’ blending. This cask is a refill butt; the colour is green-gold and the beading is weak. The nose is all pickles in vinegar, immediately followed by hot-smoked salmon (‘bradan’), smoked sausage and Coal Tar soap. The latter comes through in the taste, along with sweet vinegar. Water pushes the smoke into the background, and raises the invigorating scent of rotting kelp on the tide-line, with bath-salts and mineral smells in the foreground. A pleasant mouth-feel; a sweet start with some saltiness, smoke in the finish and a chalky dry aftertaste – the latter no doubt from residual tannins in the European oak.

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