Review #131 Alexander Murray Bunnahabhain 26yr: Scotch

Score: 8.4 / 10

Distillery: Bunnahabhain Distillery - Bottled Alexander Murray

Type: Islay Scotch

Bunnahabhain is one of the oldest distilleries in Islay. Founded in 1881. The distillery came first and the village was actually built solely to house the workers.

Alexander Murray is an independent bottler. Meaning that they buy directly from the distillery and bottle the expressions themselves. Although it's all the same stuff be on the lookout for these. They are fantastic and often at a slight discount to the actual bottling by the distilleries because people are not sure what they are.

I said slight.... it's still going to be expensive.

Whiskey Review:

Nose: A zesty lemon lime accosts the palate. Tons of honey and vanilla take over the nose after initial scents settle in. Apple, kiwi and oak are found deeper in the glass along with a faint baking spice. Agitating the glass reveals a dank hay smell.

Palate: Creamy vanilla sloshes around the palate bringing forth apple, pear and white pepper. A second sip yields honey, lime, grape and citrus upfront which turns into a light sizzling spice on the back-end chalked full of oak with light pepper. A fruity back end bounces back and forth between spicy notes.

Finish: Mildly tannic, long lasting and oaky. Key lime pie sits on the palate for what seems like an indefinite period and slowly (I mean very slowly) fades away. Light pepper and grape notes surface from time to time along with a crave-able malty flavor.

Score: 8.4

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Availability? Uncommon. Since it's a Alexander Murray these are going to very in age depending on what barrels they get their hands on. However, you can find stuff right around this range even at Costco / big chain stores. You're looking at 2 bills.