More souvenirs from a recent trip to Islay.
Bunnahabhain 12yo (46.3%, OB, b. ca. 2024): nose: stale Grand Marnier or apricot liqueur almost in the shadow of drinks cabinets. It suddenly shifts to a bowl of fruity granola, and shifts once more to focus on the cereal dust at the bottom of the bag. It becomes dusty indeed, close to chalky, before introducing cut apples and baked clementine segments. The subsequent back-and-forth between orchard fruits and cereals reflects a certain youth, but it is not overly detrimental. In the long run, toasted aromas appear -- toasted bread or barley, rather than anything earthier. The second nose injects cumin powder and chilli butter, which comes as a big surprise. Soon enough, it goes back to cereals, and adds a hay bale. Mouth: young is the word, here. It is pretty bitter without being ridiculously green, with unripe apples that suddenly become a window-cleaning spray, or even windscreen defroster. Chewing adds a subtle sweetness, in the shape of (unripe) citrus: clementine, tangerine, orange. It turns increasingly bitter with time, and it is a small wonder that it does not reach rubber. The second sip is wine-y, in a young-Rhine-white-wine way, which is not a frank success, in this taster's mind. It mellows out with more time on the tongue, fortunately. Finish: much more pleasant here, it returns to citrus segments, though, this time, they are ripe and juicy to bursting. Tangelo, Buddha's hand, tangerine. All those are in a thin custard, and the soft acidity indicates that the whole would so much like to touch maracuja -- yet never manages. The second gulp is assertively custard-y, with juicy fruit turnovers and éclairs that would have a pineapple glaze instead of chocolate. An okay dram that delivers little pleasure on the palate. The perhaps-harsh score reflects that. 6/10
Bunnahabhain 23yo 1998/2022 (49.7%, OB Fèis Ìle 2022, Calvados Cask Finish): nose: a lot bolder and precise, it has generously-varnished wood, smoked hazel wood, and warm chestnuts (the shells shine most). A logical mind may be tempted to call out apples (Calvados is an apple brandy, after all), but tOMoH finds none of that: it is entirely treated wood and nut shells. The afore-mentioned smoky element seems to mix and fuse with timid maritime touches such as sea spray and fishing nets. Let us call it smoky kelp. It promises a salty note, when given time, and one can picture a pile of coarse sea salt on a zinc plate. The second nose is more-clearly smoky: hazel-wood-fire smoke in a tiny bothy, in which the larder contains baskets of fruits. Mouth: oily and voluptuous, almost syrupy in texture. Here is a sweet and controlled juice that marries the soft bitterness of a delicious orange liqueur with the sweetness of ripe citrus (kumquat, tangerine). Chewing revives the distant smoke, refined, controlled, comforting, and adds a drop of wood varnish -- without wood, here. In the back, we find Cox or Royal Gala apples so distant they are easily overlooked. The second sip blows smoke on those apples, and presents them, sliced, on a slab of varnished wood. Next to that, we spot an open jar of preserved oranges. Finish: a fruity finish, full of orchard fruits and a puff of smoke, assertive, not brash. It is a wicker basket filled with juicy apples and pears, a basket that is usually stored in a smoky shed. The more time passes, the sweeter this proves to be, and the natural sugars of Golden Delicious apple meets processed sugar turning green. The second gulp is in line: fruity, sweet (not overly so), and faintly smoky. tOMoH likes this one a lot. 8/10 (Thanks, adc)
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