Whisky : Bunnahabhain Staoisha 6 Year SMWS 10.194 “Maritime marshmallows”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 58.5%

Cask : Rechar Hogshead

Age : 6 Year (Distilled 17 Oct. 2013)

Nose : Barbecue, toasted sugars, and earth.  Well-charred pork ribs, caramelized tomato paste, and beachside bonfires.  Extra toasted marshmallows, dark chocolate, brown sugar, and the underlying farmyard funk of cow-paddies.

Palate : Medium to light body with notes of charred wood and meat.  Sweet char of glazed ham, barbecued pork, gochujang, and herbs.  The sweet creaminess of marshmallow topped candied yams arrived at the end and lingered through the finish.

Finish : Long and lingering with sweet caramelized brown sugar and salty dried nuts.

Score : 6

Mental Image : The Thin Line between Candied Yams as Side Dish vs Dessert

Notes :  Marshmallows and meat— meat s’mores anyone?  We poured this dram during a recent local virtual tasting and opinions on it were split dramatically.  On one side were those who thought the body was too weak to really enjoy and on the other side were those who loved the tantalizingly long sweet finish.  

I fell in that second camp, though the body on this was a bit shallow and sometimes those herbal notes came off a bit bitter, the finish carried on and on. That evening I scored this an 8, but on subsequent tastings it felt a bit simple and I realized that while this was definitely above average and quite nice, it was not the sort of thing I would run out and buy. If it were a bit thicker, like some of the other Staoisha I have tried, I would have kept the higher score.

Overall a quite tasty and heavily peated Bunnahabhain with tons of delicious marshmallow and bbq notes, but without the salinity you might expect given the SMWS name.