Bunnahabhain Fèis Ìle 2023: Canasta Cask Matured Review
The Bunnahabhain Fèis Ìle 2023: Canasta Cask Matured whisky is one of three Fèis Ìle 2023 releases from the distillery. I have already reviewed the Bunnahabhain Fèis Ìle 2023: 1998 Manzanilla Cask Finish and the Bunnahabhain Fèis Ìle 2023: 17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask, so this will complete the Bunnahabhain trio. This is a no age statement, unpeated, Canasta sherry matured whisky, which prompts the question: What is canasta sherry?
There are too many sherries to keep track of in the world of whisky. Already on this blog, we have reviewed Oloroso, Fino, Pedro Ximenez, and Manzanilla sherry matured whiskies. Canasta sherry is a blend of two of the more prominent sherries used to mature whiskies: Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez. The blend is 75% Oloroso sherry and 25% Pedro Ximenez, which supposedly results in sweet, drier, and spicy notes from the Oloroso sherry and sweeter dried fruit flavors from the Pedro Ximenez sherry. The sherry casks were provided by Williams & Humbert who make their sherries in Spain.
It is not often you see Canasta sherry used for whisky maturation. It’s been very interesting to see Bunnahabhain use lesser known sherries for their whiskies this year, including the Manzanilla sherry. I had read while researching Manzanilla sherry that it at one point was the dominant sherry for maturing whiskies. Today, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez seem to be the most common sherries used.
Unlike the other releases from Bunnahabhain this year, very little information was provided on the maturation process other than the cask used. So while that is disappointing, I am nonetheless excited to experience new sherry flavors and another unpeated Islay whisky.
The Basics
Aged: Unknown
Bottles available: Unknown
Casks: Canasta sherry
ABV: 51.2%
Color: Amber
Nose: Cherries, grapes, salt, wood
Cost: $189.75 ($65.45 shipping cost)
Purchased at: The Whisky Exchange
Taste
The first sip gives a taste of cream followed by a light raisin and cinnamon flavors. The first sip is bit heavier and oily. The whisky finishes with more raisin and strong cinnamon flavors. After finishing, you are left with a nice blend of sweet spice, cream, and dried fruit on the tongue. Overall, I think the flavors are not smooth together as they could be, but they all still work pretty well together.
Neat or With Water
I would recommend some water with a dram of this whisky. I added about three drops of water mainly to subdue the alcohol burn from the whisky. Much like the other Bunnahabhain offerings this year, the taste of alcohol is pretty strong in the whisky and makes it difficult to focus on the flavors when neat.
Summary
Accessibility: I found I was able to have this ordered and shipped to Illinois in the United States directly from Bunnahabhain’s website. It is also available from a number of online retailers, including The Whisky Exchange. While you need to check whether these online sellers can ship to your state in the United States, this whisky does seem like it can be found with some quick google searching. However, don’t expect to see this available for sale at stores in the United States.
Price: For those in the United States, The Whisky Exchange does seem to have the best price for this whisky at $189.75. It’s actually more expensive to order through Bunnahabhain’s website directly where the price comes out to $198.48. I have seen this whisky sold for as high as $250.
Quality: I really enjoyed the creamy flavor this whisky provides and think it worked well with the traditional dried fruit and sweet spice flavors provided by the sherry. I do wonder what this whisky would be like if it had been aged longer. The whisky itself is not the smoothest, and, even with water, it stills has some alcohol burn at the end. Not that we know the age of this whisky, but I wonder if the flavors would have come out smoother if it had been matured longer.
Score: 7/10 (See our scoring system explanation)
I think this whisky was my favorite of all the Bunnahabhain releases this year. It offers unique flavors and is another example of Islay’s great unpeated whiskies. I would happily try another Canasta sherry matured whisky in the future. It would be interesting to see how Canasta sherry would work with peated whiskies as well.
I do wish this whisky was a bit cheaper. It is a no age statement whisky that also does not disclose how many bottles were made available. Close to $200 with shipping seems very high for American consumers. I would be willing to get a dram of this one or get another bottle if it was more reasonably priced, but it’s also not a whisky I would go out of my way to find.
I am grateful to Bunnahabhain for all of the releases they put out this year. I enjoyed trying each one even if the Triple Cask Finish was not exactly my thing. I look forward to what they will come up with for Fèis Ìle 2024. I’ll gladly enjoy my Manzanilla and Canasta whiskies until then.