Bunnahabhain 14.
Islay · Distilling since 1881
Islay without the smoke — sea salt, walnut and dark fruit carried in off the Sound. Proof that the island is more than peat.
The Gauger's Ledger
One cask, measured.
- Cask№ 870 · second-fill oloroso sherry butt
- FilledAutumn 2011, Islay
- BottledJanuary 2026, Kirkwall
- Outturn2,151 measures of 20cl
- ColourNatural — nothing added
- FiltrationNone — non-chill filtered
Gauged & bonded, Kirkwall — every figure above is from our own dip of the rod.
Official Tasting Notes
What we found.
- NoseSea spray, walnut, polished oak.
- PalateDried fruit, dark chocolate, a pinch of salt.
- FinishLong, nutty, distinctly coastal.
Against its siblings — saltier and nuttier than the Glengoyne, but still no smoke. That salinity isn't peat — it's the sea in the warehouse air.
Your Dram Log
Now, what did you find?
The official notes are one gauger's opinion. Log your own — we'll hold them here for when you pour the next dram.
The Distillery
Bunnahabhain, the Sound of Islay.
Bunnahabhain was raised in 1881 on the Sound of Islay, at the end of a single-track road it still takes some nerve to drive. The name is Gaelic — “mouth of the river.”
Unlike most of its island neighbours, the house dries its barley unpeated. What you taste instead is the place itself: salt air, stone warehouses, and slow maturation a few yards from the water.
“A sherry butt holds twice what a hogshead does — the old gaugers charged accordingly. Ours gave the largest outturn of the flight, and we're not sorry.”
Find it on the map.
The Other Two Drams
