Blind drams – love ’em and hate ’em. Each blind dram is a way to redeem your self-esteem and showcase you knowledge as whisky blogger, but it’s also a way to really embarrass yourself with way off the mark guesses (which is more often then not) and tarnish your reputation…

I’ve got this generous sample from another Israeli whisky geek (Thanks A.!) and like a fool I manage to stop him from telling me what this one is before he spilled the beans. Seriously, I should declare temporary insanity…

So I tasted it blind and here are the tasting notes. If you just want to know if I managed to guess it or utterly failed, jump to the conclusion 🙂

Bunnahabhain 12 (46.3%, £33)

Nose: Some initial acidic notes with vanilla, candied oranges and toffee. then some minor sherry influence shows up with read fruits and berries that get stronger as time passes by and also accompanied with milk chocolate notes. This is a very gentle and takes time to open up and deliver all it can, complex and mature nose to love.

Palate: Oak wood but gentle – not too much of it coupled with red fruits, honey and little vanilla

Finish: a bit on the short side. Lingering taste of sweetened red berries and oak wood which becomes a bit bitter on the inner part of the tongue, but again – not too bitter.

Conclusion: I guessed this one to be some older (18-21 yo) speyside whisky with 40-43% ABV and some sherry maturing/finish (likely 2nd refill sherry hog). So I was utterly disappointed in my failure to guess it, but quite highly surprised at how good was this bunna 12 when tasted blind. A rock solid dram with great VFM at this price and it should be part of your home bar collection.