Scotch Whisky Review: Bunnahabhain 2021 Cask Strength 12 Year Old

This is amazing.

Bunnahabhain 2021 Cask Strength 12 Year Old / 55.1% / £75

Tasted neat

Bottled on 8/18/2021, this 12 Year Old Cask Strength Bunnahabhain was a special release of ex-Sherry casks. This release is non-chill-filtered and natural colour. The distillery website notes:

Not all whiskies work at cask strength and many whiskies don’t stand up to full maturation in sherry casks. Bottling our 12 Year Old at cask strength intensifies the core characteristics

• Color: russet (1.3)
• Nose: roasted almonds, sea breeze, peat smoke, stewed berries, lime zest; classic bunny!
• Taste: warm sherry, rich, leathery jerky, honey, five-spice, toffee, and iodine
• Finish: long, sherry and figs give way to coastal heather and salt

I am really hoping that this is the start of a trend of annual cask-strength 12 year old releases, because this is amazing, and for £75 pretty excellent value for the market. This is absolutely muscular Bunny, it has layers of flavour, depth, and punch you don’t get from the regular 12. You can feel the huge influence from the Sherry casks, too.

Rating: 8/10