Bunnahabhain Abhainn Araig

I really wanted to dislike this, but it's not bad. The new-makey character fades with time, in favour of this rich glazed strawberry note and dark chocolate. It's not a great whisky, and certainly not my style of whisky, but it's passable for the stats.

Spicy, salty , sweet Bunna style here, not as much sherry influence as some others. Summer fruits with vanilla, honey and spice.

I can't stand the bitterness of almonds.

Good mouthfeel, else quite rubbery

Nice NAS whisky, the price of which would probably be reduced, probably at least halved, due to the lack of the description "Feis Ile 2022". It's not really far from the standard Bunna, and it costs a lot less. Odor A superficial sniffing is not required, as the nose is quite reserved and fleeting. With sustained concentration, a fruit basket opens up with more local fruits, i.e. pears, apples and possibly also churches. In addition, a hint of sweet cake batter and also perfumed pipe tobacco can be recognized. That points to the sherry, which initially kept itself discreetly and unobtrusively in the background. Finally, it also reveals clues to its homeland as Bunnahabhain near the coast, which can be documented by a slightly salty-maritime aroma. taste Despite the 50.8%, the Bunna seems rather light. It shouldn't be less, because then the lightness would quickly turn into boredom and irrelevance. Mild sweetness, little sherry despite PX. Some berries and leather. The fruit of the nose is hardly there, but something else that I can not assign. Too bad, but I can't think of it. After opening, the whisky has improved significantly due to the storage time of almost half a year because it has become milder. departure Medium length without making a special impression

Sugary, nutty sweetness on the nose, honey. Unfortunately quite sharp on the palate with dry, sour sherry notes. Rather short finish. Unfortunately it's pretty awful.

Neither bad nor particularly outstanding, the Bunnahabhain Abhainn Araig lacks a fruity element on the palate.

Tasted on 08-12-2022. 85-86

Diverse aromas on the nose, falls off significantly towards the finish, becomes alcoholic and sharp. 1 point deduction for the price.

Bunnahavin Marathon pt.1: 2023.02.26. Bunnahabhan Araiagh River https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/203498/bunnahabhain-abhainn-araig 84- Bunnahavhain 9yo NSS 2013 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/209586/bunnahabhain-2013-nss 87+ Bunnahavhain 12yo SMWS 2005 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/111708/bunnahabhain-2005-smws-10141 87- Bunnahabhain 12yo AD 2005 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/105810/bunnahabhain-2005-ad 85+ Bunnahavhain 12yo Cask Strength Edition (2022) https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/219589/bunnahabhain-12-year-old 88- Bunnahavin 16yo MSWD 2004 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/182465/bunnahabhain-2004-mswd 88+ Bunnahabhain 17yo Moine Tokaji Cask Finish 2004 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/209114/bunnahabhain-2004 89- Bunnahavin 7yo CA 2014 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/214775/bunnahabhain-2014-ca 88-

Very rounded, heavily influence by the finishing cask.

Round, voluminous, and tidy—if it weren't for a corky aftertaste...

A great liquor as a dram for an evening sitting. Sweet, chocolatey, with citrus and aftertaste of chocolate and coffee with mint.

Incredibly fruity with some nice sweetness - simply mouthwatering…

Better than the 2023 canasta feis ile

with water: it becomes even sweeter and more chocolaty on the nose Conclusion: really great chocolate nose, a really good balance in taste, but it falls off in the finish. Overall damn tasty.

Nutty coastal sherry, not bad

Smell: Fresh, apples and pears, dried fruits behind, slightly salty, a bit buttery and toffee. Taste: Mildly sweet, then peppery and hot, salty again, maybe some berries, raisins, chocolate and subtle spiciness. Finish: Short, sharp, some liquorice and slightly nutty. Conclusion: Not a bad whisky but in the mouth I find the alcohol to be too sharp. A rather unspectacular Bunna.

This bottling leaves me a little perplexed. Not untasty, but overall too random and boring, especially for a Fèis Ìle bottling.

This one needs to breathe quite a bit (upon first crack, at least). Raspberries, peaches, apples, pencil shavings, tobacco, chalky mints, herbal peatiness with a bit of soft smoke, salty fresh ham, caramel, and black tea. I like it, but I can see how its oddness isn't to everyone's tastes...

I wouldn't have recognized it as Bunnahabhain. Seems fake.

Tried this side by side with the standard 12yo (2021 bottling). Remarkably similar….the Bunna DNA runs strong through both. The Feis is slightly richer and sweeter on the sherry (perhaps more oloroso in the standard?), and a touch punchier due to the higher abv, but they are very difficult to tell apart. As I love the 12yo so much (best bang for your buck whisky at the minute imho), and it is less than half the price, the Feis seems like a bit of an indulgence. Lovely dram, but not sure it’s worth the extra money.

Nice vanilla taste with earthy tones and chocolate

A decent dram - quite easy to sip and one that gets better the further down the glass you go. Worth picking up a bottle as I've seen it reduced a few times lately.

Expensive bottle that does not fulfill the expectations. The nose is the best- a lot of promises. Taste is rather flat; peppery, floral and with orange geste. Finish is short. I expected more of this one...

Last year's affordable Feis Ile bottling by Bunnahabhain. A bit of a mediocre one, this. Quite drinkable, but for the in depth tasting experience it is a bit lacking. Read the here: https://maltfascination.com/2023/06/15/bunnahabhain-abhainn-araig-feis-ile-2022-bourbon-px-octave-casks-50-8/

Basically a decent Bunna, with a decent distillery character but not much sherry influence. The dominant aroma is green apple, almost grapefruit. With chocolate behind it, which comes through even more clearly with water. The youthful age shines through again and again, though. Overall not bad, but a bit too little for the price.

German Youtube Review: https://youtu.be/yF9uwIclWYw

Like many Bunna’s the mouthfeel is wonderful, and it has a salinity that works well with the sweetness. Just has a funky edge that doesn’t work well for me.

Not quite as strong as other bunnas I've tasted, but decent dram.

Golden color. oily.

I would blindly tip this to Oloroso sherry and for a while I still thought that smoke and sweetness would balance out, but for me it is category 84b as embroidered.

sharp and spicy A strong burned sherry oak unique negative flavor, Bunnahabhain character exists

easy drink, a bit weak on nose, otherwise this could be a good daily dram

I thought this might be a bit of a mess with all the different casks, and octaves in particular make me wary. Comes together very well. Definitely has the fruit and sweet of the PX, but it doesn’t take over everything. The bit of umami adds a lot. Hints at being a little young on the nose, but that doesn’t carry through. Really stars on the finish. Honestly, I like it better than the Tokaji finish Feis Ile release, and it’s about half the price.

First impression after opening the bottle.

Bunnahabhain Abhainn Araig Px oloroso bourbon. 1cl sample at The Whisky Show 2022. I can’t rate a whisky off such a small sample, but initial impressions: (Very short notes while chatting to rep)… Figgy aroma, taste is spicy and fruity, not too sweet, solid 3.55/85

WTF. Big disappointment. Another young NAS Bunna, this time for more than twice the price of a standard regular NAS Bunna just because of "Feis Ile" on the label. Immature, one dimendional and uninspired.

Pointless endeavours I’ll be brief. This is, for the almost £100 it cost to buy a bottle, a deeply underwhelming bottle. A recent club Islay tasting night, and this almost came last but was pipped to the post by the very poor and almost amazingly underwhelming, Kilchoman Casado. Why is it so bad? It smells ok but in the mouth it all falls apart, young and rough, hot and prickly and it just tastes off kilter. It’s lacking the usual deft balance I associate with Bunnas, they’re no subtlety, there’s an almost chilli flake spice to the experience and a nagging feeling that you’re being taken for a ride. Put this up against the standard 12 and it becomes obvious that it may have been a good idea on paper but in practice this whisky is a bit of an expensive dud and watsed journey how ever you look at it. Save your money.

Very sweet and delicious.

A boardwalk of treats awaited on the nose; butterscotch dances alongside dried grass, heather, and weathered oak. A subtle maritime salt, a faint mist of the breakers, drifted in with old-fashioned cream candies and a smorgasbord of saltwater taffies: cinnamon, peach, strawberry, anise, and root beer. Medium-bodied, the flavor profile carried forth with the saltwater taffy bouquet: menthol, peach, licorice, cinnamon, and root beer. Dried, salted plums arrived on the mid-palate with malted milk balls, nougat, a kiss of salt, and heather. Cinnamon and pepper lingered at the end with dried grass and salt, all of which continued through a medium-length finish. This special edition Bunnahanbain, released for Fèis Ìle in 2022, showcased the sweeter side of the distillery with a prominent sherry influence. Bunnahabhain notes on their website that the whisky was inspired “by the waters of Islay,” and the name means “Araig River” in Scots Gaelic. That river also happens to be the distillery’s water source— a key ingredient in this very whisky. Sherry did not stand alone on this whisky; the use of octave casks, 50-liter casks that are 1/4 to 1/5 the size of the typical barrel or hogshead, allowed for intense wood flavors to appear and certainly contributed some of the vanilla, from which I got those cream candy notes. I found the effect a tad sweet for my taste as candy notes, especially saltwater taffy, seemed to dominate from the nose to the palate without many other distractions. Overall, a competent creation from the master blenders at Distell that offers a slightly different side of Bunnahabhain. While the official tasting notes from Bunnahabhain are not too far off from my own, I wish I had found the cigar box and balsamic they identify; alas I never did. Mental Image: Boardwalk Candy Shopping

https://399s.com/7805.html Color: golden Smell: nuts, yellow peach, lemon, honey, grapefruit peel, malt, vanilla, Tasting: sweet, salty, lemon peel, citrus fruit, vanilla, salty, fresh and elegant fruit hard candy Finish: Short, salty, citrus zest The wine is light, not too complicated, easy to drink, and I think it's not bad

20-05-2023 06-10-2023

Fruity, sweet, medium long finish