The Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso is a recently released limited edition by Bunnahabhain distillery that features their heavily peated spirit, released under the Moine label, matured in Oloroso sherry casks and bottled in cask strength of 60.1%.
From my own experience, peat and sherry works together quite well if they are given enough time to mature and so that magic will happen. However, we don’t know how old is the Moine Oloroso but I think we can assume it’s relatively young. So the question is: did it spent enough time in the casks (and wasn’t rushed out)?
Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso (60.1%, £77.65)
Nose: Heavy bonfire smoke at first, pretty clean and dry, gentle and warm sweet dried fruit, think more purple than red, un-burnt charcoal, soaked raisins, figs, really easy going despite the high ABV. Giving it some more time in the glass it opens up a bit. There’s more punch and more dried fruit sweetness and dark chocolate, some freshness and fresh red fruit. Very good balance for its age (it’s young one, right?). With a few drops of water it’s fresher and there’s less smoke so naturally more dried fruit. Continue reading
Nose: Feels mature for its age, gentle sherry impact with sour-sweet dried fruit, a strong vanilla and cream notes, fresh fruit sweetness with classic dried fruit and berries lurking behind. There’s a constant back and forth game between the vanilla and the sherry fruitiness here. Believe me it’s not getting boring. 
Nose: Heavy and oily nose (definitely more than the duo from yesterday), strong honey note at first with cream and then the fruit joins the party with pears, apples and a few apricots and but the real surprise (for me) is the strong waxiness that popped up here along with a wee salt note that balance the the sweet fruit. After a few minutes there’s gentle spiciness with white pepper and oak spices along with vanilla pudding and soft cereals. With a few drops of water the waxiness is almost gone but the nose gets ultra creamy, A very delicate and beautiful nose. 
Nose: Starts with a classic Bunnahabhain bourbon cask profile. There’s honey, and sweet fruit notes that slowly develops into a huge tropical fruit attack and I don’t mind getting attacked like that! Pineapple, ripe banana and passionfruit (passiflora). There’s a dash of peppermint and vanilla pudding. After a while there’s also a slight old bookshop feeling and dark sweet honey. 
Nose: rich and velvety, caramel and toffee. A lot of sherry notes: soaked raisins, nutmeg and a bit of cinnamon, dried sour berries, dark chocolate. But it’s also carries some saltiness and some leather-ness (yeah, not a real word but you get the meaning, right?) after a while. 
Nose: It’s young alright with lots of malt notes, sweet malt, bread, cereals and barley sugar. There’s even some roughness but hey, here comes the sherry impact with mellow and sweet dried fruit, some plums, raisins, very subtle comparing to the strong maltiness and is noticeable just enough to balance it out. 
Nose: Smoky, salty and fruity. One time cereals and then abundant of cured meat and fruit sweetness. There’s a great balance between the peat smoke and the sherry cask influence. The peat note is well rounded and is kept in check even over time when many young peated drams nose get overtaken by peat smoke. Getting fruitier over time: green melon and dried pears. 
Nose: Starts with a wine impact but then the peat comes up. Peanuts snacks (Bamba snack for the locals here in Israel). The peat that rose stays on the front with an underground layer of sweet honey and vanilla. After a few minutes in the glass the peat recedes and there are notes of sultanas and grapes. 
Whisky Gospel 