This is a young, sherried (IIRC) Bunnhabhain that was transferred to an octave to age for 5 months before being bottled for Singapore. I tried this at the start of Whisky Journey, a socially-distanced whisky festival spaced out across 15 bars in light of the pandemic.

Distillery: Bunnahabhain

Region: Islay

Price: ~20USD/50ml

Cask Type: Sherry hogshead(IIRC, don't recall exactly), then octave for 5 months.

ABV: 54.3%

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 1.1, burnished (natural colour).

Rested for ~15 minutes, before drunk neat in a glencairn.

Nose: Apple juice, smoked honey glazed pork ribs, leather, dry aged beef funk, fresh latex, oyster sauce, sausages.

Palate: Very good texture. Maple bourbon glazed burnt ends, cheddar, mustard, horseradish, pineapple juice.

Finish: Assertive, dry, long smoked salmon sprinkled with dill. Some sorta orange fizzy drink (edit: the thing I was looking for was Redoxon), rosemary, celery, a briny tang reminiscent of dried shrimp, coconut shavings, palm sugar, oatmeal cookies.

Conclusion: I was told this is "heavily-peated". It is unclear to me why it was not labelled Port Charlotte or Octomore if so.(had a brain fart)

Almost a dead ringer for the spectacular Three Rivers Tokyo x The Whisky Agency undisclosed young Islay 6yo I drank earlier this year, just a tad brighter, fruitier and coastal. The sweet smoke isn't as impenetrable on this one, texture slightly thinner, and it is not as unctuous and borderline cloying - but the smoked sweet meatiness is uncanny. Mystery solved?

Very good example of a young sherried Bunna. Strong, cohesive, and complex. It retains the element of surprise, evolving as it moves from nose, to palate and to the throat. A minor knock against it is that the finish feels a bit uneven; things seem to fade before reappearing with a vengeance rather than gently tapering away over a long time. I think it's fair to score this the same I did for SB 12 CS.

If it were named by the SMWS: Trimmings and Drippings

Score: 88

Scotch Review #23, Whiskey Network Review #25

H.Y.