Bunnahabhain 1998 Manzanilla Cask Finish Feis Ile 2023

Bunnahabhain

The most northern distillery on Islay, Bunnahabhain is situated right on the seafront and the isle of Jura can be seen in the distance from its pier. For the majority of its history Bunnahabhain was in the hands of Highland Distilleries company limited, being purchased in 1887 and only being sold to Edrington in 1999 when the companies merged. Production was essentially mothballed, but a few weeks of production were permitted each year until in 2003 Burn Stewart Distillers purchased the site. In 2014 Burn Stewart merged with South African giant Distell and Bunnahabhain remains in their possession, along with the Tobermory and Deanston distillery. 
 
Production at Bunnahabhain is unique amongst Islay, typically producing an unpeated spirit for roughly 65% of the year, with the other 35% of production being their Moine expression. Moine is a 35-45PPM peated expression first distilled in 1997, but only really seen in the last decade. Bunnahabhain typically matures their spirit in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks, although sherry maturation is preferred for their unpeated spirit. Significant emphasis is placed on the provenance of the sherry cask used, with many rare styles of the fortified wine such as Palo Cortado utilised. As Bunnahabhain has spent much of its life under one owner it has one of the largest stocks of well aged single malts on Islay, able to age their spirit well into the later 40 years. Their core range offerings are consistent, with the 12, 15 and 18 year olds utilising sherry matured, unpeated spirit. Also of note is their ability to bottle a semi consistent release of 25, 30 and even a 40 year old expression. Yearly releases are important for Bunnahabhain with a number of cask finished expressions bottled for the yearly Feis Ile Islay festival as well as frequent wine cask releases.