Manzanilla casks and Amarone casks, could you possibly think of wine types that are further apart? Anyway that’s what Bunnahabhain used for this Turas Math #1 release, presented in the shadow of Feis Ile 2025. The Manzanilla comes from a parcel of full maturation sherry casks, whereas the Amarone parcel was finished for five years.
It is the first release in a new Westering Home Collection. In fact a Palo Cortado finish (#2) and an Armagnac cask finish (#3) were launched at the same time. You can get them in a nice 3x 20 cl set, as well as a tasting kit.
Bunnahabhain 15 yo ‘Turas Math #1’ (55,9%, OB ‘Westering Home Collection’ 2025, Manzanilla + Amarone casks, 3000 btl.)
Nose: a nice coastal kick at first – sea spray, minty prickle, seaweed. Salty leather. More sharpness of nutmeg and salinity. In second row there are hints of blackberries, sour cranberries and prunes with a chocolate coating, but not in a jammy way. It stays fairly thin and sharp. Salted walnuts, apple peelings and bread crust, as well as a faint hint of gunpowder. After airing it does become a little rounder.
Mouth: a powerful mix of Bunna’s saline character (amplified by the Manzanilla perhaps) with rounder notes. Salted nuts, hints of treacle toffee and lot of wood spice, mainly cinnamon and ginger. More walnuts and nutmeg. Then hint of plums and black cherries, flashes of raspberry eau-de-vie and Seville oranges.
Finish: long, now also showing (red) winey notes. Some drying tannins, cocoa and herbal notes.
An interesting recipe. The Manzanilla is hard to detect as such, even though it may have strengthened the coastal side. The Amarone part is slightly less to my liking, but then again it isn’t overdone and it adds a sweet roundness. Sold out from Bunnahabhain direct, but you can still buy from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt for instance.