A more sherried style, with the soft, creamy complexity and gentle, sophisticated palate and mouthfeel that Bunna’s aficionados treasure. Handsomely presented, this is a delicious, contemplative dram. Picked up the top prize in its category at the World Whisky Awards 2025.
Ladle of Contents
Bunnahabhain 25 Review:
Nose: Dry & crisp at once, with a rather dominating iodine note (see “Hell’s Bells” and other gins that uses this ingredient), light fruit and a soft butter note; slightly salty. Much more so after another minute in the glass with a huge brunt of pumpkins and a rather typical green note.
Palate: The iodine note is still there but there is now a warming nuttiness, with a more even balance and a cous cous texture to the whole spirit; pleasant yeasty notes.
Finish: The interesting and nice wisps of butter and honey become more intense on the very long finish.
Comments: Rather fascinating, complex & rather interesting flavour profile. With some time in the glass the iodine component fades but at the same time the texture keeps on growing, growing out of the sweet/salty element and into a peppery/tasting some kind of spice element. A very nice and very interesting whisky.
Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old Review 1:
Nose: Slightly disconcerted so far. With time in the glass and some added water it’s now more oaky. Light and peppery up front, light and peppery later on.
Palate: A lot more oaky now, with a deeper oily texture to the whisky. Still very light though.
Finish: With time in the glass the lightness becomes saner and the whole whisky takes on a very interesting bitterness. Tannic and crispy.
Bunnahabhain 25 Review 2:
Nose: With time in the glass a decidedly dusty sooty note develops, almost an attic note. Quite spectaculer, rather oily at first with some clean light fruit notes.
Palate: Quite oily at first, with some sooty bitterness and a little light fruit. The light fruit becomes little more fruity with time in the glass.
Finish: After 25 minutes in the glass the whisky becomes much softer, with all remaining sooty notes joined by some nice but also a little watery fruity elements.
Comments: What a wonderful nose! Some light fruitiness earlier on and a rather more oaky note in the mid-palate and after. Wonderful stuff.
Bunnahabhain 25 Review 3:
Nose: Interesting spirit, quite briny and yeasty on the nose with some creamy buttery notes coming out in the background.
Palate: The entire palate was rather light up front, but as we go on there are quite a lot of watery spices and something a little milky.
Finish: A little watery and with a lot of watery spices. A very light fruityness develops further on but is cut short by a rather abrupt end.
Comments: A very nice, pleasant whisky finish, but perhaps it could have been a little more refined.
Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old Review 4:
Nose: A “back to nature” kind of nose, nice watery bouquet with some light fruitiness, a very grassy and slightly bitter note as well, with some older notes of leather and new shoots (almost a “Fresh-Cut” kind of feeling). A very nice and very delicate aroma.
Palate: A very similar kind of watery bouquet, with a very light and rather fruity and fresh palate. Tidy and dry. Certainly different from the nose, but in a rather good way!
Finish: A very nice briney finish, with some light, very slight yeasty notes joined by a rather light vanilla note. Some wateriness and – rather surprisingly – some kind of quite small butter notes in the finish.
Comments: A very nice and very delicate and fresh kind of whisky with some interesting and light fruity/grasse/that kind of notes.
Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old Review 5:
Nose: A very mild, rather creamy and soapy kind of scent, almost like aftershave but much more delicate and refined. Some very light fruitiness and a lot of yeast (light bread) slightly pecled away by some light oak. Quite bready & creamery (breadcrumb) in my opinion.
Palate: The light and delicate notes on the palate keep exactly on the same lines. Even some longer lasting tastes of bread, cream, butter, grass and cut grass, with a tad younger notes of cut grass. Not a bad combination.
Finish: Quite short, briny, a tad nutty and with its typical lingering grassy notes. –
Comments: A very nice and quite complex whisky. Good but perhaps not extraordinary.
Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old Review 6:
Nose: Quite nice, dropping a more “roots” kind of quality. Nice earthy notes, with a touch of charcoal, green grass, a tad of carob. The distinctive aroma of “Bunnahabhain” some light vanilla and a touch of watermelon. With time in the glass a slight note of watermelon develops.
Palate: Light and fragrant, clean, with some nice herbs and a little light smoke.
Finish: A nice tar note resurfaces at the end, along with a lot of mint and a just a little earthiness. A little too short, on the whole.
Comments: For my part I think that this is a very nice whisky. With some age in the bottle I would certainly like to try a little bit more of the expression!
Bunnahabhain 25 Year Old Review 7:
Nose: Quite a little oaky sweetness, almost like a great old smooth Bourbon whisky. Some creaminess and a little bit of leather and a touch of raw wood. A distinct aroma of “Bunnahabhain” to be precise. Not the most complex and most sophisticated nose, but rather easy-going.
Palate: The rather simplistic palate is joined by a gentler and cleaner further approach to the distillery. But still dry and spicy. Again, not very complex. Some pronounced light fruits – some light banana and pineapple – develop with time in the glass.
Finish: A little too short and a bit too sharp. Solid but a little bit too basic.
