Bunnahabhain 12 review #46 with The Whiskey Novice

Part 6 of my Bakers Dozen series looking at 13, 12 year old, single malt Scotches. And this time it's back to Islay.
Bunnahabhain 12yr old has a great reputation from what I can tell but, what did I think?
Enjoy.
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Cheers.

[@revolvermaster4939]

I’m a peat freak, but I LOVE this stuff!

[@bluesmanen1]

Great dram....one of the best 12yo in my taste.

[@sabrinabenoit3454]

Second dram of the week on your virtual company and honestly thank you for the revue with the addition of few drops of water even better Slainte 🥃

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Slàinte Sabrina.

[@budj13]

Another great intro with a masterpiece ending-- how do you come up with these fun ideas! Like Bob Ross, Bunna is a cultural classic that is well known, but you added a real insight with the Cutty Sark Prohibition. I really like your alternatives section of the reviews. Thanks, Jim. Stay well and keep up the great content.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Bud. When I complete an intro each week, it's half the battle won 😄. I really do consider Bunna to be quite unique. Makes it very hard to find a comparison/alternative but that Cutty Sark expression really is nice.

[@DonnerPassWhisky]

Definitely one of the best 12 years out there. Cheers Jim

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Sure is Tim.

[@SaltyCuban]

@@WhiskeyNovice thanks for giving this scotch the props it deserves. I believe it’s ver underrated.Can you imagine it goes for @$50?! While Edradour 12 Caledonia goes for $93? I’m not comparing them. I’m about to find out this weekend if that Caledonia is worth almost twice the price. I’m buying it for the first time. Still, to get a scotch, a sherry scotch that damn flavorful and that checks ALL the boxes. No chill filtration, no coloring, over 46%, 12 yr age statement . Then the price is unbeatable !!! It’s just amazing ! The only comparable bang for buck around that $50 range right now for me that come to mind is the Bladnoch 10($50), and the Ardbeg 10 ($50-60), Deanston 12 but its creeping up in price around me. I’d include Arran 10 but I can’t find any where I live and thus have never tried it. As far as blends, spot on! The cutty sark prohibition is a steal. Delicious salted caramel 50 abv for $30!! I’ve recommended it plenty.

[@BrianAudia]

@@SaltyCuban Sipping on a Deanston 12 right now. :) Love your list plus Bunna 12 and agree. I can get Arran 10 here in North Texas USA and it is absolutely equal to the others. I would add Ledaig 10 to that list. Probably my favorite of the lot. How did you like the Edradour Caledonia seeing as we must have similar palates?

[@pski001]

Great review mate! I bought this a while ago when on offer in Sainsbury’s and forgot about it. BUT when I got around to opening it I was blown away how good it was. Definitely one of the best 12 year olds out there. As you say a very gentle intro to Islay whisky.

[@peathead4450]

Decent review again, Jim. And the "Thank you for enjoying" definately is well said in this case: in my opinion amongst the best 12yo available. No need to point out that the intro was great again. Thanks!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Frank 😁

[@andy_calderwood]

Another great review and one of the best value 12's out there. Distell just so good at knocking out good 12's across their distilleries, 46.3%, well made and delivers so much mouth feel and flavour for the price. Love it....

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Andy. Totally agree.

[@WhiskyJason1]

I am going to have to do a blind tasting with the best 12y single malt scotch whiskys - Thanks for the inspiration

[@WhiskeyNovice]

I look forward to hearing the outcome. Cheers Jason.

[@SaltyCuban]

@@WhiskeyNovice btw. One quick question . For under $150, what are the top 3 sherried scotches you’d buy right now. Any age statement or cask strength included if you want . In any order.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@SaltyCuban oh! Well not sure about the conversion rate but...if these fit the bill, I'd go: 3.Glengoyne CS 2.Aberlour A'bunadh 1.Glendronach 18 That being said...that could change tomorrow 😄

[@SaltyCuban]

@@WhiskeyNovice I know what you mean. I try to have at least a handful of bottles open at one time. Out of those, I like to have a sherry, a peated and a bourbon matured. Whatever the mood calls for. As far as sherry goes for me. Glendronach 18, Edredour 12 cask strength , bunnahabhain 12. But the Abunnadh is always a good one. I’ve never had the Edradour 12 Caledonia or the Glenfarclas 15, so i can’t enter them in the equation. I wasn’t even aware of the Glengoyne cask strength . Interesting .

[@lunaarran6965]

How famous you are when Bob Ross even paints you! Always watched this in late night sessions coming home from a night out! And sure, really good whisky, the Westering Home dram . Cheers Jim!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄 cheers Luna. My mother has cabinets full of Bob Ross VHS tapes. Her and my father were huge fans of his.

[@hellswidd4628]

Bunna 12 still one of our favourite drams ... andys epiphany whisky 🥃. Great review as always. Cheers Jim.

[@hellswidd4628]

Bunna being in CS Prohibition explains why Andy likes that too lol

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@hellswidd4628 cheers Hellen. Yeah both great drams. This review seems to have brought a few Cutty Sark "PE" fans out of the closet 😄😄

[@leejaybrown5567]

Another great review Jim, I have the 12 and never disappointed and now I will keep an eye out for the Cutty Sark blend now to. Best quote though "don't lick candles" lol. Stay safe fella.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄 cheers Leejay.

[@WhiskyWhims]

I don't believe I have ever tried this whisky but I really need to. Great review Jim!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Stuart. Aye it's always worth a go.

[@society_dweller666]

Great review! Bunna 12 is wonderful. Gotta get of taste of that Curty Sark. My earlier conforntations with Cutty Sark have not been that great...

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Toni. Yeah Bunna 12 is just a great, solid whisky for me.

[@maltymission]

dammit Jim! absolutely fantastic intro! A great core range whisky as well, with a very solid review to go with it. Toto, I 've a feeling we're not in Speyside anymore...

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😁 cheers Menno.

[@thewhiskeyscoop4022]

Clever intro haha

[@WhiskeyStraightAl]

It is indeed a great whisky. I just love it. Another excellent review mate - now that you've put the notion into my head, I'm away to lick some candles. Cheers Jim.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄😄 cheers Alan. Can I recommend Yankee Candle. Bit'o'quality ya know 😉😄

[@richardagnew4959]

$89.95 here in Canada - with the exchange that's almost 53 sterling. :(. We get gouged over here. I was able to do a virtual Bunna tasting on Father's Day last month. We tasted the Stew-re-dar (phonetic!), the 12, the 18, the Palo Cortado and the French Brandy Casking and the Toch-ach (phonetic) a Dha. All of them were so good. I really want to get my hands on the 12 and the Stew-re-dar. Great distillery! Loving the Baker'sDozen series, Jimbo. :)

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Richard. Yeah those are shockin' prices mate. You guys really do get hit hard on Canada. It's a curse.

[@firstfill5072]

Elegant, deep dark fruity notes, mouth watering, hits all the right notes. Fabulous value. The cutty sark, although great value,50 abv, it has a weaker mouth feel than bunnahabhain. My concern is the reviews it gets are amazing, I hope it doesn’t cause a price hike 😳Great review...slainte🥃🥃🥃

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers man. Yeah good point. We'll say no more about it 😄😉

[@FloydVonManteuffel]

Another great intro and review Jim! Watching this and sipping along with a Bunna 12, great value whisky and one that i keep reaching for all the time, love the richness of the dry fruits and nutty character :) Would you say that the mouthfeel of a Talisker 57 North is more oily vs. the waxiness mouthfeel of Clynelish 14? - without having to lick candles ;)

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Floyd. I haven't actually tried the 57° North but the Clynelish is certainly a great example of a waxy whisky.

[@kresimirjelcic576]

One of the best 12 years old whiskies...

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Kresimir. Agreed.

[@WhiskyNeighbour]

Well ... Cutty Sark Prohibition. Hmm. Last bottle of that I did not enjoy. Except I love Bunnahabhain. I may need to try the Cutty Sark again! Thanks.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Jon.

[@WhiskyNeighbour]

@@WhiskeyNovice I don't know if I've ever said, but your Green screen work is awesome. I have my own screen that I use for fun projects, but I've never got it so clear as you do with no edge problems. Great work!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@WhiskyNeighbour thanks Jon. A good quality screen and good lighting are the key.

[@WhiskeyQuests]

Nice comparison there. I enjoyed a sample of the bunna 12 so much that I will be grabbing a full bottle of it nice flavors coming from a super light peated scotch. I have also only had a sample of the cutty and as I recall way better than Johnnie Walker black. I have a full bottle of it just haven’t gotten around to opening it yet. Cheers 🥃

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Antonio. Aw yeah I'd put that Cutty Sark way ahead of JW Black. I know prices vary considerably from country to country, but if the Cutty is in any way reasonably priced....I'd recommend it to anyone. It's one of the best budget blends on the market as far as I'm concerned. Oh and the Bunna ain't bad either 😉😄

[@WhiskeyQuests]

Whiskey Novice i don’t know about Andrew in Australia but here in Chicago it’s only $25 to 28 dollars

[@christofinb]

Everything you get from it I get, quite astonished at this as I never seem to pick up similar notes to other tasters. It is exquisite, there was one that I’ve tried that was similar to this which was the Ro and Co Irish whisky blend, as that was a fruit bomb whisky if not even more so than this, very bourbon influenced. The Ro and Co is amazing a hidden gem I’d like to see you review it. Thanks for the review

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Excellent. Glad to hear this. I genuinely love it when my notes and someone elses match. It means I must be doing something right. Ro & Co will be reviewed at some point. Cheers.

[@christofinb]

@@WhiskeyNovice Ok thanks will look forward to the review, Ro and Co is the best, I can't believe the nose on it, so jammy and fruit forward it has that feel if a Bunnahabain 12 but with an Irish twist.

[@alanmcloughlin909]

Love these intros so much! But wait should I not be licking candles?!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Well there's nothing written in stone Alan 😆. Some of those modern candles can be very tasty 😄. Cheers mate.

[@davidowen2834]

Well Jim , whats left to say about Bunnhabaian 12 that hasn't already been said, just like your review Jim, its bloody good 😁👍. P.S I dont get any peat either.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers David. I'm still not convinced there was a smokiness of it. Maybe just power of suggestion 😄

[@whiskeyworksgraeme]

Aul Bob knows what the craic is 😂

[@WhiskeyNovice]

How did he know what the future would bring 🤔. There's a small bush in that painting bit that'll be our little secret 😂

[@moelassus]

Bunna 12 was my gateway Scotch. It got me started on my whisky journey. After trying a lot of different core expressions, Bunna 12 remains in my top five favorite Scotch whiskies. Not only is it absolutely delicious but it's readily available and a great value. Anytime someone asks me for a whisky recommendation I always ask, "have you tried Bunna 12?"

[@WhiskeyNovice]

That's a biggy to be a gateway. Everything that came afterwards had a lot to live up to. Cheers bud.

[@JimmyLeg]

I've been through a bottle of this, (the previous livery) and I don't recall being impressed at all. I do have another bottle I'll have to get back in to it. You sure make it sound good. :-)

[@TheLastDrop]

I love watching Bob Ross!!! Bunna ain’t bad either.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄 cheers Chris.

[@damnedbythedram951]

Great review Jim😁👍 Bunnahabhain is a Lovely whisky maker. Have you tried the 18 and 25y? Cheers

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Frederik. No I haven't had any other age stated Bunnas. How does it hold up with the extra age?

[@damnedbythedram951]

@@WhiskeyNovice I like both of them but they are way to over priced. The standard 12y is a good whisky for its price point

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@damnedbythedram951 yeah they really do overcharge for some of them. Cheers mate.

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

Interesting....I did try the Bunna 12 yo for a long time & owned the previous release of this (so coloured, chill filtered & 40 % abv) & liked it but not much more, but it had some unique style from the distillery's previously most often unpeated malt (which was probably not the case in the early days, mind you)? I remember when this one (the current one, but which a different label from now) came out & brought some enthousiasm to some people & reviewers but strangely I didn't share a lot of this enthousiasm because for me something of the distillery character was lost by the major use of sherry casks & (again sorry to play the devil's advocate) the increase of abv & rather positive move to ncf/nc did reinforce my impression... I bought a bottle of this last year (I didn't want as I was happy with my indie bottlings of Bunnahabhain I often tend to prefer to the OB's) after all the fuss (priced here around 55 €) & while I didn't review it yet (will do at some point, maybe for an upcoming rundown) I tried it 3 or 4 times & I'm sticking to my opinion that its nose is superior to the palate which remains too thin in my opinion, and to short & too peppery for me in the finish...So it is good, with some complexity, but frustrating...Some markers of the old style are still there, mind you (such as the liquorice, also to be found in the excellent Cutty Sark "Prohibition" you paired it with here), but some "je ne sais quoi" of the old style has disappeared...So it is nice whisky per se, but not the best Bunna around imho (I gave it an 88/100 though, still a good rate, but the lowest of my other-all indie bottlings-Bunnas of my collection...). To conclude, I'd say I would like Julieanne (the master blender) to work on a say 14 to 15 yo unpeated & unsherried version (but please with no heavily char or virgin oak or wine oak, etc..you get the picture...) matured in 1st fill & refill Bourbon casks to see what happens without sherry & peat to discover an intermediate "more natural" style if I may say...If I was an indie bottler that's what I'll ask for to present something else from what's most often on the market, but don't get me wrong, sure I like some sherried & peated expressions from the distillery & I'm very happy with the ones I have in my collection....Cheers !

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Greg.

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

@@WhiskeyNovice I've corrected some word omissions & mistakes in my first post...it might make more sense now

[@PieceBoxHeid]

Opaque bottles: I went to pour an Ardbeg Blaaack earlier and almost threw it in the air. Had wrongly assumed I drunk less than I had, then the weight of the bottle bamboozled me The almost launched bottle was only counteracted by the speed of my eyebrows frowning (tightening with pure disdain, lowering to almost closing my eyes, disappointed I drank so much of a bottle I can't put down)

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄😄 I feel your pain. Cheers.

[@jamesburgoyne7861]

Whenever this is on offer on Amazon for £30 and free delivery I get an itchy trigger finger..once my current budget bottle runs out (HP 12) I’ll go for it. 🙏🥃

[@WhiskeyNovice]

😄 yeah it's a hard one to ignore James.