Review #: 465
Description: The Ultimate Whisky Company Bunnahabhain Staoisha 2013 5 Year
Spirit: Scotch
Background: This is an independent bottling of peated Bunnahabhain distillate. Distilled on September 6th, 2013, it was aged in a bourbon hogshead for 5 years until April 3rd, 2019. By the looks of it, not much barrel influence. Possibly lots of angel share too because despite the hogshead, it produced 288 bottles but it certainly hits hard on the proof. This is cask 900038
Distillery – Bunnahabhain
Bottler – The Ultimate Whisky Company
Brand – The Ultimate Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Selection – N/A
ABV – 63.9%
Age – 5 Years
Nose – Lemon custard, black pepper, match stick, kind of a buttery pie crust note, muted cherry, raw coconut
Taste – Lemon curd, vanilla cream, some banana(?), pleasantly sweet and creamy
Finish – HUGE blast of peat, like eating charcoal or how I imagine licking an ash tray (but kind of in a good way), lemon still there but has turned a bit sour, black pepper, burnt toast
Score: 6
Would I buy a bottle? This was like 40 Euro. Well worth it.
Thoughts: This is almost like Octomore-lite. Young so the peat and distillate really are on display. I thought there was a good amount of flavor and complexity, but once you swallow, you better love peat. With the young age, the smoke hits HARD. Especially over 60%. Not the strongest thing I’ve had, but you still have to be careful with each sip