Bunnahabhain – 26yo – (IB) Lady of the Glen – 50.01%

Lady of The Glen’s first Islay release. Distilled on the 16th November 1987 and aged in a single refill American Bourbon cask, number 2470. It has been bottled at cask strength and there has been no colourings added – this is non-chill filtered. The cask yielded 205 bottles.

Colour: Light golden.

Nose: Slight alcoholic nip at first. Hint of peat alongside banoffee pie, that’s toffee and banana cake if you didn’t know. A slight coal kind of tar, from the cask no doubt with a nice oak background. Some time for this to open up works really well.

Palate: Smooth and relaxed, I love malt at this age. It’s got a rather trademark honeyness to it that I’ve found in Bunnas from time to time, and it’s great.

Finish: There’s a fair bit more tannin in this than you’d think at first leaving a finish that isn’t particularly sweet, just touches of sweetness amongst a bit of sour, really quite classic. A great long malty finish (sometimes unusual at this age) that sticks around for ages giving your cheat a nice warm hug.

Water: A splash (just a small splash mind you!) helps bring out even more honey sweetness, which is a good thing as it backs off the tannin just a touch which improves things for me.

Thoughts: I like Bunna, and I like old Bunna! This is a great dram, which a drop of water helps go just that little bit further.

Available: Lady of the Glen – £130 (also in 20cl for £65).

Thanks to LotG for the sample.