Wemyss Malts ‘blowing on a sea breeze’ – Bunnahabhain 1990

It’s really been ages since I last reviewed a Wemyss single cask, and I am happy to do that again with such a lovely dram as we’re going to see shortly – this 1990 Bunna. Bottled at 46% abv (I was wishing for CS), only 209 bottles in that batch, and surely a 25 year old Bunna can not be bad, right?  This little gem was released in 2015.

Blowing on a Sea Breeze 1990 – Wemyss Malts (Bunnahabhain)blowing-on-a-sea-breeze-1990-bottled-2015-wemyss-malts-bunnahabhain-whisky, £114

Nose: gentle and lovely with soft wood smoke coming from distant bonfires. Sea breeze and brine, as well as slightly flinty old wood, wood spices . It’s like sitting on an old lacquered Rocking chair overseeing the ocean. Just brilliant.

Palate: certainly does not disappoint. A beautiful old wood with loads of wood spice, gentle smokiness and a wee hint of peat, along sweet barley sugars , wood polish, an earthy sort of peat, some soot all very light, with the wood shining above, some briny notes too and maybe a hint of  kippers.

Finish:  Quite long with more of that delicious wood , polish , crème Catalan and a wee hint of distant peat fire.

A superb coastal malt, with the right balance of light peat, old wood, and the sea spray and sweetness. Beautiful. Well done Wemyss, you nailed this one. Seems to be sold out long ago, but if you find a bottle somewhere, just grab it.

Score: 92/100

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