Another whisky I tasted last month during a local whisky tasting charity event was the Bunnahabhain Darach Ur. I love the Bunnahabhain 12 (which I tasted blind. review is here), and I need to open and taste some of their older stuff I have here. But it was a nice surprise to encounter and taste their NAS offering.

Darach Ur was launched for travel retail and the name “Darach Ur” is Gaelic for “New Oak” – a reference to the fact that this whisky is matured exclusively in new American oak casks. Darach Ur is a very successful expression and reached Batch #10 already despite being available only at airports and other travel retail shops.

 Bunnahabhain Darach Ur Batch 9 (46.3%, pre-order at WoW for £40.99)

Nose: Initially subdued and closed nose and takes a while to develop. Once it’s developed, there were some sweet berries syrup, toffee, citrus/oranges and nuts.

Palate: Hmm, better than nose with sweet honey and oak, getting some tannins bitterness. Light berries taste.

Finish: Short length, warming with a bit of oak wood spices and tropical fruits sweetness

Conclusion: This is not a bad whisky but it was far from impressing. The nose was a bit weak and subdued and it took a lot to get some notes out of it, while the rest was OK but nothing memorable. Perhaps this batch isn’t as good as the others? Still good enough for day to day drinking.