Gordon and Macphail Bunnahabhain 8 Years is an un-peated whisky from the island of Islay in Scotland. Bunnahabhain is one of only two distilleries that habitually makes and releases an un-peated whiskey; the other distillery is Bruichladdich. Caol Ila also puts out an un-peated whisky, but it’s only as a yearly limited edition.

That’s not to say they never use peat, because they both do. Bruichladdich puts out their Port Charlotte and Octomore editions and Bunnahabhain does periodic peated runs to supply peated whisky for their Ceobanach. After doing these runs some of the indie bottlers will also get their hands on some casks of that peated whisky and bottle them on their own. We tasted some at our 11 Peated Bunnahabhains event at Malt Nuts and I’ll be going over one of them in detail tomorrow, but today we’re reviewing the traditional un-peated Gordon and Macphail Bunnahabhain 8 Years.

Gordon and Macphail Bunnahabhain 8 Years Info

Region: Islay, Scotland

Distiller: Bunnahabhain
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: “Oak Casks”
Age: 8 years
ABV: 43%

Price: $65

Gordon and Macphail Bunnahabhain 8 Years Review

EYE
Honey

NOSE
Apricot heavy fruit, vanilla, graham, honey, cider spice and a light bit of lemon muffins. It’s an interesting aroma, but by no means is it deep. Still I’ve had worse at an older age statement.

PALATE
Apricots, malt, honey, vanilla, spice and some light notes of bananas and biscuits. Interesting, but muted compared to the more dynamic nose. It’s not a bad tasting whiskey, just not super exciting.

FINISH
Medium fizzle of fruit, malt, vanilla, spice and menthol.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Ok balance, medium body and a smooth relaxed feel.

OVERALL
Gordon and Macphail Bunnahabhain 8 Years is an inoffensive MOTR (Middle Of The Road) whisky. It’s soft fruity nature glides through the senses with little friction and nearly blends into the background. It’s not pleasant, it’s not unpleasant, it just is. Neither good nor bad, neither tasty nor detestable, neither boring nor exciting. It’s a whisky that needs a bit more time to find itself and figure out what it’s going to be.

SCORE: 82 (B-)

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