Have you ever seen this venerable Bunnahabhain 1966, bottled by Malts of Scotland not long before it would go underproof? If so, then you’re probably a Belgian whisky aficionado, or you were ten years ago.
Just 88 bottles were available, tiny 35 cl bottles mind you! Most of these came to Belgium, back when Dominiek Bouckaert (The Whiskyman) was the importer for our country. I remember people thought it was expensive at the time, but Dominiek reaction was that he didn’t really care. He would rather drink the bottles himself anyway.
Bunnahabhain 1966 (41,4%, Malts of Scotland ‘Angel’s Choice’ 2011, MoS 11020, 88 btl.)
Nose: a delicate fruit salad, mixing papaya, banana, pineapple with a subtle creamy / waxy hint, some gorse flowers and fresh mint leaves. Laurel as well. A slightly honeyed edge. Granted, complexity is low, but Bunnahabhain does know how to make a nice vitamin juice.
Mouth: oh so very gentle. All on sweet exotic fruits again, now with more coconut flakes. Almost a soft tropical fruit liqueur, with hints of walnuts and ginger that give away its age. As nice as it is, we have to admit it’s fragile and doesn’t offer much of a whisky kick.
Finish: quite short (of course) but still quite fruity, on bananas with mint and a leafy note.
A tiny whisky in more than one sense, but at the same time big in its performance. A really, really nice treat even though it starts to crumble away. A relic of such great times for whisky lovers.