2014 Bunnahabhain Staoisha Heavily Peated 4 Year Old "Signatory Unchillfiltered Collection" Dechar/Rechar Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Staff Reviews

WB

Will Blakely

Will Blakely

This bottling definitely speaks directly to the die-hard peat fanatics out there. Fans of last year's John Milroy 3 y.o. Staoisha should be pleased with this successor, because honestly, it is worth the increase in price. The former bottle relied almost exclusively on barbecue smoke and a healthy dose of oak, but ultimately felt understandably underdeveloped. This fills out all the flavor you were missing--salty, mossy and rich with marvelous charred oak and a lick of spice. Tobacco and aromas like a dry-rub for pork keep this feeling fresh and different on every sip. The dark, chocolatey malt makes for a perfect backdrop on which to hang all these intricate, nuanced flavors that work so well with the deeply entrenched smoke. With a bottle like this, the impending shortage of double-digit age-stated single malts does not seem so scary.

Notes

The Bunnahabhain distillery is located at the far northern edge of the island of Islay and was built in 1881. There it has quietly made a famously non-peated Islay malt capturing many malt lovers' hearts. The distillery began experimenting with heavily peated malt in the 1990s and has continued to produce limited quantities under various names since then. We've fallen absolutely in love with the style and we're excited to see this special cask in the Signatory warehouse. We typically avoid malt this young, but the Staoisha we got from Milroy in an almost completely inactive refill hoggie was delicious, so we figured we'd have to give this refurbished cask a spin. Thank the lord of the Isles we did. The dechar/rechar process is just as it sounds. The inside of an old barrel is scrapped to reveal a fresh layer of oak, then a fire is ignited to re-carmelize the wood sugars and seal the cask once again. The result is a much more active cask, but without the harsh tannins we usually associate with virgin oak. Astonishing on first nosing. The whisky could easily be 8+ years older. Straight out of the bottle, expect a big bold peaty malt with roasty bbq, dense smoke and a core of dark spicy malt. With water, this precocious youngster displays a finesse and elegance reserved for much older Islays. Classic Bunnah saltiness is there but framed by an impressive array of flavors. Those who pass on account of the age are only punishing themselves with their closed mindedness.