Welcome back to another instalment of my never-ending journey of pairing two single malts and trying to find out which one I like more and, most importantly, why. This is an ongoing refinement of my understanding of Scotch whiskies [and more], and hopefully, you’ll learn something along the way as well. In today’s tasting, I’m putting up the seventh dram from my Cask Explorer‘s 2022 Advent Calendar (Diamond Edition) against a whisky that I’ve purchased for my own collection. I previously covered the latter from Bruichladdich in a similar bout a few months ago, where I wasn’t particularly thrilled about it (you can read my write-up here), so let’s see how it stands up against the Bunnahabhain. So let’s get right to it, but first, we need music! Now Playing: Surgeon – Crash Recoil.

Bunnahabhain (meaning “mouth of the river” in Gaelic) takes its name from the nearby Margadale River on the northeastern coast of Islay. It was founded in 1881 by William Robertson and brothers James and William Greenless. It is currently owned by Distell, which also commands production at Tobermory and Deanston distilleries. Even though it is from Islay, it’s [mostly] an unpeated single malt. The heavily peated version of it is called Staoisha [I’m a very big fan]. The dram I’m trying today is from Douglas Laing independent bottler, under their XOP (Xtra Old Particular) label, and it is un-coloured, un-chill filtered, single-cask whisky from a refill hogshead, distilled in 1989 and bottled 30 years later, in 2019. This has to be exciting right away, but let’s just see if it holds up to expectations. It’s only at 42.8%, and I will not be adding any water to allow this whisky and retain its delicate oils. It’s pretty light in colour, and, as already assumed, that refill hogshead was ex-bourbon. It’s soft and delicate but spicy in the corners. It’s definitely oakey, like a carpenter’s bench smothered with a bit of wood oil, and to be honest, I’m not sure if it’s my thing. I’ve had a similar experience with other older whiskies, where they just appear to be a little “overcooked” by spending too much time in a single barrel, and I’m not sure if Scotch becomes too woodsy, anything can be done to reduce that profile.

Bruichladdich is also an unpeated whisky from Islay [for the heavily peated version, you must try Octomore, of course] owned by Rémy Cointreau, and my bottle comes courtesy of Elixir Distillers and The Single Malts of Scotland series. This is a 26-year-old whisky, distilled in 1992, and it’s also un-coloured, unchill filtered, single-cask. It’s bottled at a “cask strength” of 54.2% – a term that is omitted from the Bunnahabhain above, which means that it could have been diluted further by the bottler and brought down in ABV to get more bottles from the cask. The colour of this whisky is identical to Bunnahabhain, but the label states that it came from a “barrel” – whatever that means. So either Elixir had no idea what type of cask they got from the distillery, or they just did not want to say. My best guess is that it’s an ex-bourbon ASB (American Standard Barrel), which holds approximately 200 litres, while the hogshead can go up to 250. As a result of it being a tad smaller, the whisky interacted longer with the wood [think of the liquid-to-surface ratio], and if it was a first-fill barrel, it could extract a lot more “wood” in many years. It has a fuller, punchier arrival and then the immediate flavour of oak woodshaving that turns just bitter at the end [just like last time]. The water has definitely helped it a little, and the bitterness is slightly gone [or it’s also possible that my taste buds have adjusted], but the woodsiness is there, and I feel like I am licking off spilt whisky from the wooden counter at a pub. I’m cringing my face a bit – it’s just not my style, but your mileage may vary.

Distillery / Region	Bunnahabhain / Islay	Bruichladdich / Islay
Producer	Distell	Rémy Cointreau
Bottler / Series	Douglas Laing / Xtra Old Particular	Elixir / Single Malts of Scotland
Stated Age / Vintage	30 years old / 1989	26 years old / 1992
Cask type	Refill hogshead	“Barrel” (?)
ABV / Cask Strength	42.8% / No	54.2% /  Yes
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£400	£325
Did it win? / Did I like it?	No / No, a little overhyped	No / No – way overcooked
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	No / No	No / No

The Douglas Laing is slightly better, but honestly, it’s really not by much. I cannot really tell its age just from the flavour. It’s tasty, but I think that if I’d bought this for £400, I would have been most likely just as upset as when I spent £325 on the Bruichladdich. It all goes back to expectations. I was excited about the 30-year-old and now feel pretty disappointed with the profile. At least Bruichladdich has been disappointing once before, and I already knew what I was getting. And as I take the last sip from the glass, I’m still a little bitter, like the whisky, and I hope that this will be a lesson that I learn. With that said, I will not proclaim a winner here. I’m pretty disappointed in them both.

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[I’m also beginning to suspect that some of these drams in the Advent Calendar are just a way to get rid of the expensive and unsold bottles by splitting them up into 30ml samples. But, even if it was true, it still creates a fascinating journey that I’m thankful for. And once again, at least I didn’t buy the bottle!]