Whisky : Bunnahabhain Mòine 9 Year Amontillado Finish Fèis Ìle 2020 

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 56.9%

Cask : Amontillado Sherry Finish

Age : 9 Years (Distilled 2 Dec. 2010, Bottled 24 Jan. 2020)

Nose :  Barbecue smoke, maritime, and dried grass.  Rich maritime barbecue smoke and char with chili prawns, oysters, and kippers.  Salt sea air as if eating grilled seafood in a seaside hawker center.  Grassy notes of dried palm fronds and bamboo stalls.  

Palate : Medium bodied and very oily with a sharp sweetness and notes of barbecue, dried fruits, and dried grass.  Sweet wave of dried sultanas and apricots struck the palate.  Barbecue smoke appeared as the fruity sugars faded to reveal slightly medicinal herbs and burning dried palm fronds.  The beachside barbecue got away from us as the cracking pig blackened and the nearby palms became oversized tiki torches.  

Finish :  Lingering char and grassy sugars.

Score : 7

Mental Image :  Accidental Beachside Bonfire

Notes :  Another Fèis Ìle bottle I originally intended to try during the Islay Festival week!  Living on the other side of the world from Islay, Fèis Ìle was a private and personal celebration— or one shared with the wife— rather than a community event.  I tried to celebrate a bit this year (also to mark the end of the school year) with a few actual Fèis Ìle drams from year’s past thanks to some generous friends and the Bunnahabhain Fèis at Home tasting kit.  

This had a lovely undercurrent of maritime notes that unified the nose and the palate which otherwise seemed to pull in different directions.  The nose offered savory seafood barbecue, while the palate brought a wave of rich dried fruits.  Sandwiched between these different impressions were typical Bunnahabhain notes of dried grass— scarecrows to some, hay bails to others, or dried palm fronds in my case.  A few drops of water evened out the palate and brought out a smoother, almost creamy, mouthfeel.

Overall, I loved the nose on this— rich seafood barbecue has to be one of my favorite things and this reminded me strongly of an experience in Singapore that the wife and I still talk about.  Yet, the palate was a bit sweet for my taste and occasionally a bit hot.  Water helped tame the heat and reduce the sharpness of the sweet, but this was not really something I would normally grab to pour.  I suspect Bunnahabhain fans, especially those with peaty proclivities, would rate this a notch (maybe even two) higher.

Image Credit : Whisky Auctioneer