Bunnahabhain Moine ltd. ed. Feis Ile 2009

THE HOLY SPIRITS VIEW
Bunnahabhain is famous for being unpeated, so a peated Bunnahabhain is already an oddity. This one was bottled for the 2009 Fèis Ìle, the Islay festival, with only 642 numbered bottles, each signed by the Distillery Manager. Ours is bottle 356 of 642: an early festival release that shows the smoky side of Bunnahabhain, kept pale and fresh.
 
THE DISTILLERY
Bunnahabhain sits at the end of a single-track road on Islay’s north-eastern shore, looking across the Sound of Islay to Jura. Founded in 1881, it is known for a soft, maritime, usually unpeated house style. Mòine, Gaelic for peat, is the distillery’s occasional peated expression, a side of Bunnahabhain you rarely see.
 
THE WHISKY: MÒINE, FÈIS ÌLE 2009 LIMITED EDITION
Peated Bunnahabhain distilled in 2003 and bottled on 29 April 2009 at around six years old, finished for three months in Oloroso sherry butts at Warehouse 7. Natural cask strength, 58.4% ABV. Bottled for the 2009 Fèis Ìle, limited to 642 numbered bottles signed by the Distillery Manager. This is bottle 356.
 
TASTING NOTES
Pale lemon zest in the glass. Fresh and crisp straight away, sweet summer grass, dry smoke drifting behind, lightly perfumed, a dried herby note. Palate sweet and malty at first, then white pepper, a smoky, marine character building through the middle, a hint of citrus fruit lifting it. Finish dry, spicy, lightly smoky. Young, vibrant, nothing heavy about it. Intriguing, clean peat with a quiet touch of sherry.
 
Serve: Neat, in a Glencairn glass, with a few drops of water at this strength to open the grass and citrus.