This week of reviews of sherried Bunnahabhains began with the distillery’s release for Feis Ile 2022. I did not care for that one. That was followed by the 2021 release of the Bunnahabhain 12 CS. Now, that one I really liked. This last review is of a 13 yo single sherry butt that was bottled by Sansibar for Finest Whisky in Berlin (a whisky store, I think). Will it keep the week’s trajectory going even higher? Let’s see.

Bunnahabhain 13, 2009 (54.4%; Sansibar for Finest Whisky, Berlin; sherry butt; from a bottle split)

Nose: Not quite as rich as the  12 yo CS but in the general ballpark. Less orange peel here; instead a fair bit of pencil lead. The savoury notes pop out on the second sniff. The fruit begins to expand as it sits: some dried orange peel, yes, but also some cherry; a bit of toffee and salt as well. With a few drops of water some of the oak emerges here as well (dusty rather than spicy) but there’s more toffee as well.

Palate: The red fruit and the orange peel lead the way here, with spicy oak coming up behind. Probably on account of the oak it feels a bit hot at full strength; nice texture. The oak gets more assertive on the second and third sips—not tannic, just spicy, but I would like to see more of the fruit. With more time and air, the orange peel does finally emerge and it’s now more balanced. Okay, let’s see if water brings out more fruit. Yes, the orange peel is brighter now and the oak is less spicy.

Finish: Long. A bit of sherry separation after the first sip but it comes together after that. As on the palate, it’s the spicy oak that makes the strongest impression. As on the palate with time and water.

Comments: Not quite as good as the 12 yo CS but also very good. Now why can’t the poor saps who trek out to Feis Ile and stand in line with five million other saps count on something at least as good as this?

Rating: 86 points.