Signatory 35th Annv Bunnahabhain 44 Year

Tasting Notes

90pts Whisky Fun

"Here they are, the famous new bottlings celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Signatory Vintage. We have already tasted the Highland Park in December, but now it's time we have the three Bunnahabhains. We shall have the others in a few days, depending on WF's schedule and the passing trains. These venerable Bunnahabhains can be majestic, sometimes slightly weary, but I doubt that's the case here. Let's proceed, if you will... Colour: pale gold. Nose: there's all the beauty of the world in the aromas of these long-aged refills. But one almost wants to say nothing in front of these simple garden apples tinged with pine honey, blancmange, and very ripe pineapple touches. What if we said nothing? Mouth: it's quite incredible how the old butt predominantly conveys pine honey, just like in the aroma, but also pine needles, apple skins, and cinnamon. It truly turns its flaws into virtues, it really does a sort of judo move on you. Finish: not very long and more on a little damp cardboard, old walnuts, touches of very old calvados, and always this pine honey. Marzipan in the aftertaste. Comments: superb. Like an ancient work of art, one would almost want to restore it by adding a few drops of young peated Bunnahabhain, for example, but of course, it would then no longer be an original piece (and what a horrible idea, S.) SGP:451 - 90 points."

Producer Tasting Note

"A lovely dark gold in colour, the 44 years in cask have created a beautifully rich liquid with ripe banana, warm caramel and roasted walnuts. The mouthfeel is luscious and expansive with a long, satisfying finish. The colour of the whisky reflects only the natural impact from the cask during maturation. The whisky was disgorged and bottled under my supervision in the town of Pitlochry on the 5th of October 2023. - Andrew Symington"

Distillery

Originally written by Evan for a blog post relating to KWM's 2020 Whisky Calendar.

Bunnahabhain Distillery is the northernmost distillery on Islay – it lays off the beaten path and is somewhat remote even when compared to the rest of the island. The distillery was actually only reachable by boat until the 1960s, when a road was finally built to it. Bunnahabhain is one of a trio of Scottish Single Malt Distilleries owned by Burn Stewart (Distell Group).

Burn Stewart and its parent company also own Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull which we discussed on both on Day Four and Day Seventeen. and Deanston Distillery which resides on the Scottish mainland in Perthshire. Like its siblings, most of the flagship single malts Bunnahabhain range are bottled unchill-filtered and with no added colouring at the curious but commendable strength of 46.3% ABV.

Like many Scottish distilleries, Bunnahabhain is a Gaelic name. It translates to "the foot of the river".

This Islay distillery was founded in 1881 and started its life making the heavily peated whisky that the region is famous for. For most of its history its whisky was exclusively used in blends such as Black Bottle, and even today only a fraction of its production is bottled as a single malt. In 1963 production was increased and at the same time the distillery’s style was changed to the lighter, unpeated single malt whisky it is known for today. Since 1997 there have been small amounts of heavily peated (35 PPM malt spec) single malt made each year but it is not what the distillery is known for. 

The core of Bunnahabhain’s production and lineup doesn’t show very noticeable peat if it shows at all as they use a malt spec with a maximum phenolic level of 2 PPM. This makes it one of the more gently peated Islay single malts available. The distillery and its whisky are sometimes referred to as the ‘Gentle Giant of Islay’ What it lacks in smoke and peat it typically makes up for in nuanced and complex character and plenty of sherry cask influence, at least in official bottlings. 

Independent Bottler

Signatory Vintage was established in 1988 by Andrew Symington. The quality of whiskies released by most Independent Bottlers can vary a lot, and be rather hit or miss. Signatory Vintage is an exception to this, and we have consistently been impressed by the quality of its offerings. Accordingly Signatory Vintage has been a staple in our shop for more than a decade.

One of the reasons for Signatory's consistently high level of quality is that it doesn't bottle casks in the hand-to-mouth fashion, of many other independent bottlers. But rather it purchases parcels of casks, storing them in their own warehouses, while patiently waiting for the whiskies to mature.

Originally located in Edinburgh, the business was moved to Pitlochry in 2002, after Symington purchased the Edradour Distillery from Pernod Ricard. Edradour is tucked into the hills above the scenic Highland town of Pitlochry. This farm distillery has a charming, rustic, and understated esthetic, which was maintained by Symington when building a new bottling facility and warehousing.

The distillery bottles single cask and small batch bottlings of both single malts and single grains. Its ranges include the Un-Chill Filtered and Cask Strength Collections. In 1988 the firm celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a range of specially chosen, exceptionally rare single casks.