Bunnahabhain 43-year-old Director's Special, The Single Malts of Scotland / 41.4%/ 0.7l

The Single Malts of Scotland is a series of whiskies from the Specialty Drinks Ltd. portfolio. The company is owned by brothers Sukhinder and Raja Singh, whose life-long passion is whisky.

Their online store, The Whisky Exchange, has been operating since 1999 and now offers almost 8,000 whiskies. The Single Malts of Scotland debuted in 2005 and features whiskies bottled at natural colour, cask strength and without chill filtration, usually in single cask form . Director's Special is the crème de la crème of the series, a collection of rarities that tempt connoisseurs and collectors. The Bunnahabhain on display here, distilled in 1975, spent over four decades in a refilled bourbon hogshead cask . Bottled at cask strength (41.4% abv) in 2018 in an edition of 341 bottles. (Producer's tasting note.)  

Aroma : fruit stand, Swedish buffet of sweet buns and fresh fruit salad: mango, bananas, caramel cookies, cream and candied lemon slices. Delicate floral notes enriched with the scent of grapefruit and lemon peel and spicy butter.  

Taste : spicy spices in an innocent skirmish with the elegance of oak; stewed apples and pears sprinkled with nutmeg and hot cinnamon, wrapped in the breath of the forest and damp needles. Soothed by the warmth of oriental spices, we end the feast with a piece of sponge cake with raisins.  

Finish : sweet biscuits and vanilla combined with stewed apples sprinkled with cinnamon and a hint of spicy butter.