Signatory 35th Annv Bunnahabhain 48 Year

Tasting Notes

92pts Whisky Fun

"It's always very classy when bottlers decide to release their whiskies at ages like 48 or 49 years rather than waiting for the 50-year mark, which would add £1,000 or more to the bottle's price. Colour: deep amber. Nose: it must be admitted that an additional 8 or 9 degrees of alcohol can change a lot of things. Here we are firmly in the territory of an old cognac. Baked peach, sultanas, dried apricots, hints of menthol, a tiny bit of aniseed, then apple compote and quince tart, followed by very ripe damsons... All this parades by quite magnificently. With a drop of water: it moves even closer to an old cognac, quite spectacularly. Mouth (neat): yes, here we bow down, even if, or perhaps because there's a kind of brutality, charred wood, burnt cakes, carbonised nuts... And we love it! (he's crazy). With a drop of water: everything falls into line, the old cognac is back. But this global feeling might stem from the fact that we taste much more very old cognacs than very old malts. I mean, really old ones. It's really very good but be careful in a blind tasting! Finish: the old wood stands out more but the whole remains gentle, quite fruity, and moderate in terms of spices. Lovely bitter oranges and quinaquina in the aftertaste. Oddly, black pepper comes in right at the very end. Comments: all in all, this all makes sense (there, a conclusion that was really worth it, S.) SGP:551 - 92 points."

Producer Tasting Note

"A lovely deep auburn colour, the 48 years in cask have created a beautifully rich liquid with dark grapes, old sandalwood and ripe apricots. 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.