Bunnahabhain Fèis Ìle 2023: 17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask Review
As mentioned in our Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2023 post covering the Manzanilla cask finish, Bunnahabhain put out three releases for this year’s festival. The headliner was the Manzanilla cask finish because of its age (i.e. Just under 25 years) and long finish in Manzanilla sherry (i.e. nine years). I am a fan of it, but it is a pricey whisky and one that I will not break out every day. It’s one that is meant to be savored. The other releases cost $103 (i.e. Canasta Cask Matured) and $244 (17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask) if buying at the distillery and before taxes. In this post, we’ll be covering the 17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask, which has made me vacillate between excited and worried.
I am excited because it is a peated whisky from Bunnahabhain, which is more known for unpeated whisky. The moine word in the title of this whisky is Scots Gaelic for smoky. I assume it is meant to denote their peated whiskies. I am a bit worried about all the different flavors coming together in this one. It is a blend of bourbon, rum-finished, and Oloroso-sherry finished casks. I have had very nice whiskies with rum influence, such as the Angel’s Envy Finished Rye in Rum Barrels, but I am still not sold on it as a great cask for maturing whisky.
As with the Manzanilla cask finish release, Bunnahabhain provides a lot of nice milestones about the maturation process the whiskies used in the 17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask went through. The first whisky was originally aged in American Oak on February 2, 2004 before being finished in first-fill Oloroso sherry hogshead. The second whisky was fully matured in an ex-bourbon barrel on November 10, 2004. The final whisky says it was originally aged in American Oak and finished in rum barrels on December 7, 2017. For the final whisky, a date of February 16 is given for when its maturation in American Oak began, but it does not provide a year. The other two began maturation in 2004, so I will guess that is the starting date for the final whisky, but it’s not explicitly stated on their website.
Somehow after blending this together, we get a 17-year aged whisky. I am not quite sure how that ends up working out as no official dates are provided for when the maturation ends. Does that mean all these whiskies stopped maturing in 2021? I am going to assume so, but feel free to weigh in if you know more.
This one is going to be really different and will look to bring together many interesting flavors. Let’s see how this moine holds up.
The Basics
Aged: 17 years
Bottles available: 1,740
Casks: Oloroso sherry finish, rum finish, bourbon
ABV: 52.6%
Color: Dark amber
Nose: Raisins, cream, cinnamon
Cost: $252 (shipping + auction fees included $61)
Purchased at: Scotch Whisky Auctions (Auction 144)
Taste
The first sip is a light bourbon taste of caramel and cinnamon combined with some light vanilla flavor from the rum. Those flavors transition into a heavy cinnamon spice and light peat finish. You get very little smoky flavor with this one as part of the finish. It is not particularly smooth transitioning between all the flavors the whisky offers. It also does not do a great job of masking some of the burn from the alcohol.
For me, I really enjoyed the sweet spice flavor provided by the whisky. It’s basically a spiced bourbon with a little rum and peat in the mix as well.
Neat or With Water
I felt adding water was a must with this whisky. The alcohol taste is very present without water and is still present even after adding some water. I added about four drops to get it to a point where the strong alcohol taste wasn’t as present and the sweet spice finish came through better.
Summary
Accessibility: This is a pretty small batch whisky with only 1,740 bottles available, so it will be more difficult to find. The best option for getting it appears to be through Bunnahabhain directly on their website or at the distillery. For those in the United States, a whisky auction might be your best bet.
Price: At the retail price at the distillery, this whisky sells for $244 before taxes and shipping. Given I spent $252 for it, that seems like a pretty good deal where I saved some money. I understand that it is a smaller release with only 1,740 bottles available, and developing and blending three 17-year whiskies is no small feat. For someone who appreciates the flavors, maybe the price is a nice deal.
Quality: The nose of this whisky gives you such high hopes, but I think the whisky doesn’t blend all of the different flavors involved well. What really comes through nicely is the sweet spice flavor, but I do not personally feel like the light bourbon, rum, and peat flavors work well with the nice sweet spice finish. Of particular note is that the alcohol taste is present and difficult to subdue with water.
Across all the categories I use to judge a whisky, the 17-Year-Old Mòine Triple Cask has some challenges. It’s difficult to find, is expensive, and the taste is not something I personally enjoy. If you are looking for a bourbon and rum hybrid taste with some sweet spice, this whisky might interest you more. Even if the flavors sound good to you, the price and accessibility make this one difficult to recommend.
I have mentioned in the past that bourbon cask matured whiskies are not my favorite when it is the primary flavor that comes through. Maybe that’s my main issue with this one. There will definitely be people who appreciate it, but I would not get another bottle of this one.