Earlier this year many of special editions in Distell 2019 Collection were covered here but some avid readers noticed I didn’t post reviews for some of them for some reason.
The headline of the collection is Bunnahabhain 1988 30 Year Old that was finished in Marsala casks. I skipped reviewing it back then as it wasn’t yet available in shops, but now that it did hit the shelves, here are my impressions of it:
Bunnahabhain 1988 30 Year Old Marsala Finish (47.4%, £450/€489,95)
Nose: Soft, there’s nice depth here, tropical fruits, pineapple, kiwi. Meshes well with the Marsala impact of soursweet red fruit and tingling spice, roses petals and cinnamon. Continue reading
Nose: Clean, fresh and subtly sweet. There’s honey, gentle red grapes and red wine tannins, a hefty dose of vanilla, some earthy tone (dry earth and a touch of nutmeg) that adds some surprising depth, white pepper, – all in all a very rich nose despite the young age. After a few minutes there are some fresh floral side (floral wine) to the sweetness, quite a good balance between the Ex-Bourbon and STR casks.
Nose: The Sherry casks influence is here front and center with notes of chocolate. cinnamon, dried fruits (a lot of peaches and apricots) and generally rich fruitiness. 
Nose: Big peaty and coastal nose. Peat smoke, sea breeze, the return of medicinal Laphroaig with iodine, TCP and bandages, honey, very crisp, more peat smoke. After a few minutes green fruits, ripe and unripe apples, kiwi, more honey and sweet peat with medicinal notes in the backseat along with hints of tropical fruits. 
Nose: Sweet nose, red fruits with plums, sour-sweet red berries, blueberries, roses, honey, vanilla, oily and heavy. After a few minutes the berries legion is led with raspberries mixed up with a few strawberries, hints of spice and white pepper, cinnamon and hard candies. 
Nose: Somewhat dry and quite oily, A very airy feeling like we’re sniffing it from afar time does the trick and the it’s getting stronger and bolder: grapes, a bit of smokiness (and no, it’s not a Moine release), sultanas, sweet honey, pears and peaches, beeswax. After a few more minutes, soft and gentle peat, nuts and honeyed grapes. Fruit blossoms perfume. 
Nose: Red fruits, the STR cask is dominant at first with tannins and red wine. Cereals, honeyed peaches, a bit of chocolate (with some charred cask smoke). After a few minutes the PX finish enters the stage with more dried fruit and chocolate but the honey, cereals and gentle wine are the backbone of this whisky. 
Nose: Soft dried fruit, cereals, milk chocolate, raspberries and blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg and soft oak spice. After a few minutes there’s a darker shade of chocolate with extra cocoa, dried cherries and strawberries, berries perfume. 
Nose: Lovely depth of notes. There’s earthy side here with dried fruits, and Portobello mushrooms, dark chocolate, sherry vinegar, dark cherries, a few specks of nutmeg and cinnamon and eventually the Deanston honey and cereals shows up through the cracks of the sherry casks notes. 
Whisky Gospel 