Bunnahabhain 44 yo - Director's Special SMOS DS

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 42.4% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

A single Sherry Butt previously used for whisky maturation forms the basis of this long-aged Director's Special bottling. Bunnahabhain distilled the whisky in 1975, and Elixir Distillers bottled it in 2020 after 44 years of maturation under The Single Malts of Scotland. The cask yielded 492 bottles.

The whisky was bottled at its natural cask strength of 42.4%, without chill filtration or added colouring. The 0.7-litre bottle features gold-coloured lettering and comes in a wooden box with a metal plaque.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: Plum wine and quince jam appear first, alongside caramel cake, marshmallows and chewing gum. Freshly baked gingerbread and cardamom tea are also present. Daisies and meadowsweet add delicate floral touches.
• Palate: The whisky feels juicy on the palate. Gentle floral notes and fresh peppermint give way to damp oak staves, evoking Armagnac casks in a cellar. Mandarin, mango and heather honey contrast with the more bitter notes of tobacco and rooibos tea.
• Finish: The long, layered finish combines rounded menthol notes with gentle liquorice and an impression of dusty wooden panelling.

Distillery/Bottler:

Bunnahabhain was founded in 1881 on Islay's north-east coast. Until 1960, the remote distillery could only be reached by sea; today, a single-track road leads to it. Its house style is best known for unpeated single malts. The tall stills favour a lighter, more delicate spirit, as heavier flavour compounds are less able to reach their upper sections.

Elixir Distillers is responsible for the independent bottling of this edition. The company began in 1999 as Speciality Drinks and adopted its current name in 2017. Selected single casks have been released under The Single Malts of Scotland since 2005. The selection aims to reveal a distillery's individual character at a particular point in its whisky's maturation. Director's Special is a particularly high-end range within the brand.

Facts: