Bunnahabhain distillery was constructed in 1880/1881 by
the Greenlees brothers and first opened its doors in 1983.
The number of stills was increased from two to four in 1963,
at a time that many other distilleries did the same. At the
moment, Bunnahabhain has the largest capacity on Islay.

The Bunnahabhain distillery on Islay is located on the north
of the island, with Caol Ila as its only neighbour. Situated
on the coast of the Sound of Islay, it's protected from the
fierce winds blowing in from the Atlantic ocean. Maybe this
is reflected in the upeated style of the 'Bunny'. It's the only
unpeated Islay malt whisky (Bruichladdich is lightly peated).

Perhaps it's just as well that Bunnahabhain was released from their grasp, because both
Macallan and Highland Park have managed to drop from my Top 10 of favourite distilleries
after the Edrington Group were finished 'developing' them. In both cases it meant that the
quality of the regular, 12yo expressions that had been affordable favourites of mine during
the 1990's started to drop to 'average' levels while the prices were cranked up a notch.

For a while, I had my doubts about Bunnahabhain's future...
The new slogan they came up with at Burn Stewart is 'Bunnahabhain - The Spiritual Home of Black Bottle'.
Well, if that's the only 'core value' they want to express (the fact that Bunnahabhain is used in a blend, albeit a tasty one) they may not be in the best position to take full advantage of the current single malt whisky boom...

It's hard to believe if you visit the remote, quiet
island of Islay (population +/- 3,000), but it was
once the centre of a large empire. The centre of
that empire was Loch Finlaggan. In the loch are
three islands, two of which lie close to the north
shore; Eilean Mor (meaning 'large island') and
Eilean na Comhairle (council isle) which contain
the remains of ancient buildings. The chief of
Clan Donald ruled as the 'Lord of the Isles'.
 
In 2005 Bunnahabhain distillery employed
some 11 people. That may not seem like a lot,
but on a small island like Islay every job counts.
If the workforce of the other Islay distilleries is
of a comparable size, that would mean that all
Islay whisky is produced by +/- 100 people...

In 1999 Highland Distillers, then the owners of Bunnahabhain, were acquired by the Edrington
Group (themselves the result of a merger in 1996). They only held on to Bunnahabhain for a few
years; in 2003 Bunnahabhain (the distillery and the brand) were sold to Burn Stewart Distillers,
together with the 'Black Bottle' brand. In the words of Ian Good, chairman and chief executive of
Edrington Group: "The disposals are in line with the group's strategy of concentrating our investment
resource behind developing our core brands." The Glasgow-based Edrington group said that its
strategic aim is to concentrate investment behind developing its flagship brands; the Famous
Grouse & Cutty Sark blends and the Macallan and Highland Park single malt whiskies.

Even though the Bunnahabhain distillery was
sold to Burn Stewart, the Edrington group is still
its biggest customer. Bunnahabhain may not
have the biggest 'profile' of the distilleries on
Islay, but it has the largest production potential
of all distilleries on the island. They don't run at
full capacity, though, making Caol Ila (located
just a little to the south) the distillery with the
biggest actual annual output on Islay in 2007.

The fact that Bunnahabhain is (at least potentially) the biggest distillery on
the island may come as a surprise to some, but when some of the malt
maniacs visited Bunnahabhain in June 2005 we could verify for ourselves
that the stills were absolutely massive. The trip to the distillery is worth it,
even if you don't fancy basking in the glow of the massiveness of the stills.
Most whisky activity is on the southern part of the island and around Loch
Indaal, but a trip north will take you along Loch Finlaggan - worth a detour.

1) The name Bunnahabhain is Gaelic for 'Mouth of the River' and refers to the Margadale River.

2) Bunnahabhain's location was chosen mainly because it's easily accessible from the mainland by boat.

3) Do you know of any more trivial trivia about Bunnahabhain?
Why don't you drop me a note so I can share it with the rest of the whisky world through this page?

Bunnahabhain 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 1993, 50cl) - one of my first tasting notes in the early 1990's.
Nose: Smooth and a little bit sherried. Quite gentle for an islay malt.
It's not peaty and smoky like Lagavulin - more like Bowmore, but even softer.
Taste: Smooth and sweet. Can I taste some peat here? No, I don't think so
But it's not as powerful as Lagavulin or Laphroaig. More like Longmorn or Glen Ord.
Score: 81 points - I only learned later that Bunnahabhain is the unpeated exception on Islay.

Bunnahabhain 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2001, 70cl)
Nose: Soft. Obvious sherry in the start - almost fruity. Alcoholic; a bit like rum.
Pinch of salt. Hint of oil after a while. Peat & sweet toffee notes. Not terribly expressive.
Taste: Very sherried. Salty, but not much power. Sour notes. Quite a mouth full...
Malty and a little sweet in the centre. Dry finish with some smoke. No peat.
Score: 80 points - almost a decade after my first dram I still love it.

Bunnahabhain 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled 2005)
Nose: Oil, quickly followed by organics. Very peculiar. A wine finished whisky? Fine white pepper. Malty.
Sweeter 'sake' notes after a few minutes. Bubblegum. Soap? Very freaky, but I have to admit I'm intrigued.
Taste: Fairly unpleasant start. Bitter. Eucalyptus. Cheap perfume. It loses quite some points on the palate!
Well, over time this became quite pleasant, actually. Weird organics. Almost better than average...
Score: 79 points - it falls from grace after a unique bouquet; based on the nose it could have been 83/84.

Bunnahabhain 12yo 1989/2001 Sherry Finish (43%, Chieftain's, C#9039, Sherry Finish, 70cl)
Nose: Wow! A sherried punch. Fruity and sweet. Marzipan. Banana? Dried apples.
Whiffs of smoke and soap. Oriental spices. Very faint peat.
Taste: No sweetness. Oh, wait - there it is... Gingerbread. Marzipan again.
Needs a few minutes to find the right balance. Slightly dry in the finish.
Score: 81 points - which puts it roughly in the same league as the 12yo OB.

Bunnahab(h)ain 20yo 1979/1999 (56.7%, Signatory Vintage, Cask #3184)
Nose: Quite sweet. Toffee. Organics. Some sherry. Tobacco? Some fruits too.
Taste: Sweet, smooth start. Malty, bitter centre. Feels softer than the high proof suggests.
After a few minutes the palate turns nasty and bitter. Can't hold a candle to the 12yo OB.
Score: 68 points - hardly worthy of a single cask treatment, methinks.

Bunnahabhain 20yo 1980 (54.8%, Prestonfield, Cask #9063)
Nose: Wood. Smoke. Extremely sour like raw rhubarb. Vinegar? Organics.
Old sherry and dust in the background. Unique, but no real Islay power.
Taste: Soft start, growing fruity towards the centre. Tannin dryness.
It has a great candy fruitiness that slowly fizzles out into a dry, beer-like finish.
Score: 83 points - one of the early 'Prestonfield' bottlings from Andrew Symington.

Bunnahabhain 24yo 1979/2003 (45.7% Cadenhead's Authentic, Bottled July 2003, Bourbon)
Nose: Salmiak, liquorice and aniseed. What a pleasant surprise! Lemon and a hint of oil as well.
Nothing too extreme in the profile, but it's very nicely composed with some unique traits.
Taste: The palate was fruity and a little bit dusty. It felt weaker than its 45.7%.
Score: 87 points - very pleasant indeed; highly recommendable.

Bunnahabhain 25yo 1964/1990 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Distilled 30/11/1964, Bottled 2/90)
Nose: Not unlike the sour mash and washbacks we sniffed during some distillery visits.
Yoghurt and passion fruit. Wonderful organics. Delicious. This is a malt to get lost in.
Taste: Bloody great - a world apart from Signatory's 20yo 1980 bottling
Score: 87 points - I felt it was highly recommendable.

Bunnahabhain 27yo 1978/2006 (55,6%, Signatory, Sherry C#2542, 509 Bts.)
Nose: Whoomps… A fruity attack with organics in the background. Needs some water?
Taste: Sweet fruits and loads of wood on the palate as well, but the proof isn't overpowering.
Chocolate? Some bitter hoppy notes like beer? Lovely tannins on the palate in the finish. 
Score: 87 points - but it might be a bit too extreme for some people... Almost like the Aberlour A'bunadh?

Bunnahabhain 1974/2005 (46%, Berry Bros & Rudd, Casks #11534-11536)
Nose: Peculiar. Clay? Maybe a hint of lemon? After a while pine, camphor and eucalyptus.
A second dram showed clay again. Maybe glue as well. Hints of pine and oil. Milk powder. Quite complex.
Taste: Oily and herbal in the start. Pine. Fortunatly, it grows bigger, sweeter and fruitier in the centre.
Over time a fruity dimension appears as well, although the pine remains. Not really my cup of tea.
Score: 78 points - but that's because I'm not a big fan of piney, herbal notes in my malts. It's personal...

Bunnahabhain 31yo 1976/2008 (46%, Single & Single, 560 Bts.)
Nose: Light, round & a little fruity. Solidifies after a few seconds with some more woody notes.
Faintest hint of smoke? Well-balanced, although it closes up after a few minutes instead of opening up.
Floral. Some very subtle peanuts and organics far in the distance. A 'blink and you'll miss it' malt.
Taste: Round and sweet and very smooth. Excellent fruity centre with loads of passion fruits.
The finish is hot, long and very dry. The wood is just a tad too dominant here; making it fairly bitter.
Pretty good tannins, though - and a menthol freshness emerges after some breathing in the glass.
After some more breathing I got some faint floral notes as well amongst the fruit in the finish. Liquorice?
Score: 87 points - without the perfume & with more 'staying power' it would have approached the 90's.

Bunnahabhain 34yo 1968/2002 'Auld Acquaintance' (43.8%, OB, 70cl)
Nose: Fruit and sherry. Organics. Spices. Sweaty socks - but in a nice way...
Carnival candy. Black berries. Smoke. Eucalyptus? Amazing complexity.
Taste: Woody start. Fruity centre. Dry finish, still woody.
Nice, but nothing very spectacular. Quite bitter. It seems a tad watery.
Score: 90 points - this malt has matured more gracefully than I have...
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Bunnahabhain whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.
 
 

Based on experiences with single malts from the other distilleries that are owned by Burn Stewart (Deanston and Tobermory) I was sceptical at first. There, the focus seemed to be on quantity rather than quality. It is actually possible to find magnificent bottlings from these distilleries, but they are usually selected casks from independent bottlers. I'm happy to report that Bunnahabhain seems to be doing very well - IMPROVED quality if anything!