Bunnahabhain 18 year old

Bunnahabhain 18 is a single malt from the distillery of the same name in Islay. Although the peat is not the main feature of the whisky, it won 'Best Islay Single Malt 13 to 20 years old at the World Whisky Awards 2014. The sea salt notes combine with fruity undertones and a delicious vanilla flavour from the casks appears too.

Bunnahabhain distillery

Bunnahabhain distillery was built in 1881. From the start, the project was a massive task. A pier to load and unload barrels was needed. A road and houses for the distillery workers was also needed. Some £30 000 (£2.6 million in today's money) were spent building it. 

While many distilleries on the island supplied blenders and sold their spirit as single malt, Bunnahabhain did not. All of its production was being sold to blenders. Three major blends, Cutty Sark, Famous Grouse and Black Bottle used the spirit from this distillery.

In the 1963 the production capacity of the distillery was doubled. Less than two decades later, the distillery was mothballed for a couple of years. When the distillery reopened, it kept on supplying blenders. The owners of the distillery, The Edrington Group, sold it in 2003 to Burn Stewart. Their parent company went bust in 2009 and South African distributors Distell acquired it. Bunnahabhain has gone from strength to strength ever since.

The spirit produced by the distillery is light and delicate in style. this is achieved by the usage of huge pot stills filled with little wash during distillation. Very little peated spirit is produced.