It's a great distillery & location and the staff were fantastic. I've never had a bad whisky from Bunnahabhain and the range of expressions & single casks they had was really impressive! Well worth the visit 😁🥃👍
Fully recommend it! Jo and I both really enjoyed it and the staff were brilliant. Will be great when they've got their new visitors centre set up as they're kind of squashed in a small room at the moment 😜👍
Very nice Ben. Loved our visit to Bunnahabhain and I think its now one of my favorite distilleries. We did the Warehouse 9 tour and tasted from the cask in the warehouse. Great whiskies all around!
Cheers Gents! Of all the distilleries on Islay Bunna is the one I think we missed out on the most with. Next time we definitely need to do the Warehouse 9 tour and see production. They make a cracking whisky, not been disappointed yet 😁🥃👍
Ben, this video brought back some wonderful memories from my Premium Tasting at Bunnahabhain in April. l also had Leah for my guide in April and it was a solo tasting since I was the only booked for that time slot. On that day, I was also able to taste the 36 Year Old Canasta Finish, one of the best whiskies that I have ever tasted. I have done the Warehouse No. 9 Experience four different times during my Bunnahabhain visits and it is always a great experience. Cheers !
I've definitely got to try the warehouse 9 experience next time! They've got some really interesting cask finishes stored away 😉 The premium tasting was still really good though. Don't think I've come across a Canasta finish before, I love moments/whiskies like that which stick with you! Thanks for watching 😁👍
sorry to be offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an instagram account? I was stupid lost the login password. I love any tricks you can give me
@Malakai Riley i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Another good vid Ben. I haven't really tried many Bunna's other than the 12, well not that I can recall at least, but some of those sounded interesting. Looking forward to seeing your other distillery experiences over there.
Really enjoying these videos - love the sketches. We are planning to visit Islay early Sept or maybe end of Aug. Still not booked anything. Will have to get your top tips after all the videos are out.
Cheers Phil, the sketches were a bit of a compromise but hopefully a little more interesting than my face 😉 I've got a few notes/tips jotted down, would love to talk through plans with you guys 👍
Great video of Bunnahabhain, Ben! Good to see you enjoying the tasting (very studious with notebook in hand and pencil at the ready) and recording your first impressions. Yep, that little road approaching the distillery defies the imagination - how on earth do the big trucks navigate it? Makes you wonder. As for the millions of pounds to be invested here in the next few years, I'm glad to hear of it. It's a stunningly good distillery - without a shadow of a doubt - but it's been left in dire need of some tender loving care for quite some years now. Deserves to be spruced up and returned to its former glory. Especially exciting to hear of some holiday cottages which will be available for renting. There's just one thing I hope they don't change: the tastings in Warehouse No. 9. That place has so much atmosphere, it's just magic. And yes, their staff are what makes the place - friendly, up for a chat and a few stories, they exude the typical Islay relaxed openness and friendliness. Hope you enjoy your bottles and provide us with some cracking Bunna reviews in the not too distant future. Cheers!
Haha, I had a couple of people coming and asking about my notepad and wanting to flick through it! Couldn't help but sketch some observations/ideas as I was walking around the distilleries too. I quite liked the little road - I was in no rush to bypass the scenery! Some of those steep banks and harsh drops seemed super risky for a lorry though! Jo was less of a fan when driving back 😉 So many of the distilleries are either working on or planning developments/improvements. I'm really looking forward to going back and seeing a snapshot of the changes since this visit. Bunna, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Ardbeg, Laphroaig & Bruichladdich all mentioned some upcoming works, then there's Port Ellen and Ardnahoe to add to it! Exciting times 👍 They were pretty excited to be getting a purpose built visitors centre and car park - think they're getting tired of being squashed in the current room haha. Even the offices looked like they needed attention! Those cottages would be an amazing place to stay, waking up with a view over the bay each morning and getting to just nip over for a dram or two... will keep an eye on them. There's also a load of space up above the distillery now where the old workers homes were (unfortunately left in such a dire state that there's no recovering them), but they're hoping to make use of that too. I've been looking forward to opening a bottle or two as I've been putting this video together! Still have half of the samples left from the tasting too - think a few reviews are in order 🥃👍 Cheers Russell!
I'd love to do Feis Ile next year! I've been seeing all the events popping up for this year and getting really jealous lol. I'd best start saving! Haha, Jo was desperate to get into the warmth so we didn't hang around on the pier for as long as I'd have liked. I wanted to take a dram out there and do a little tasting and walk along the shore a bit 😉 Will add it to the list of things to do for when I go back!
Love the island and it's whisky. Been there twice during the last three years. Never during the festival though. The island is just too crowded then. Did the warehouse tasting back then, there's nothing better than drinking whisky in a dunnage warehouse 😄 Keep it up, looking forward to the rest of the vlogs 👍
Yeah it's an incredible place, can't wait to get back there! I kind of want to try Feis Ile at some point (next year maybe). I'm not normally a fan of crowds but if it's all whisky-folk then I should be fine 😉 One of my regrets is not having spent more time with the people we did cross paths with on the island! I love sampling whiskies from the cask/in the warehouse - perfect setting for it 🥃👌 Cheers Tim 😁
Interesting question - of the ones on the premium tasting I think I enjoyed the 18 YO the most! Then the 14YO single cask and then the 25YO. Overall though, my favourites were sampled in the visitors centre afterwards with the staff. There was a peated PX 14YO single cask and an unpeated 12YO PX which both stood out and the Erigh Na Grene travel exclusive was also a little special/unique. Looking forward to cracking them open and really exploring them soon! Cheers Bill 🥃👌
Love this man! Great video series on Islay! Bunnahabhain is my favourite distillery (I have 25 unique bottles) but I haven’t been to Islay yet. This summer maybe... What about all these single cask bottlings, are they full 0.7 or smaller?
Wow, that's a sizable collection even if it wasn't all one distillery! Are a lot of them independent bottlings? The most I've got it 9 from Tomatin I think. Bunna definitely know how to make a great dram 🥃👌 They're half size bottles I think. You can fill your own 70cl of the 'current' cask but as it gets low they decant into a set of 35cl's and 5cl's for the shelves then bring a new cask in 👍 I was tempted to get one of each haha.
Whisky Geek Thanks for that info, Ben! 👍🏼 Yeah, I spend too much on whisky. It seems to accellerate :) I think 10-12 of them are indies. Bunna is a distillery that is popular among indie bottlers (like Caol Ila). It has to to with availability I guess. I usually try to find at least one good review before I take the chance on an IB, but its hard to find when its a single cask. WhiskyFun.com reviews many Bunnahabhains actually.
I love a good indie bottling, like you say they can be a bit of a risk though! I've kind of steered away from buying too many recently as they're not very relatable to most people but I feel like you can get a better understanding for a distilleries character or the effects of certain casks from IB single casks.
was there last year but having to miss out when i go back in may :(. after seeing this vid i might have to dump the other lads when we get off the ferry at port askaig hotel for a pint while i shoot off to bunna and grab a hand filled bottle and be back in time for the caol ila tour. well done on the videos - looking forward to seeing more.
Have you got a fairly packed agenda? I believe Bunna also do "end of day" tours a couple of times a week too which may be chance not to miss out! Bunna was one of our favourites (as was Caol Ila!). Cheers 🥃👌
@@WhiskyGeek we only have 2 full days. arrive thursday pm do caol ila. friday its laphroaig, lagavulin, ardbeg. saturday its jura, bruichladdich and possibly kilchoman and/or ardnahoe somewhere in there. head home on sunday. missing out on bowmore and bunna altogether as we did tours last year. no warehouse demo at lagavulin either as its friday (sobs). i would happily miss out jura (whisky is bit of a flop but being on the island could be worthwhile) if it meant another crack at bunna. u did the right thing going with the mrs and not having to be pragmatic with a group of 5. the lads im with arent all that into bunna - its all about the peat monsters and bowmore. cant wait.
@@greigmartin4339 Man we didn't feel like 6 days was long enough! I was gonna say; surprised Jura made your list - you could probably get Bunna & Ardnahoe in in the same amount of time! Yeah I'm lucky - Jo just likes exploring with me so was happy coming along for the ride! Will be great to revisit with her when she can sample the whiskies too. Should still be a great trip though 🥃👍
KISSS - Keep it simple sense stupids, clean and tasty scotch. Thanks. ALL Distilleries listen up, Don't care what business purpose is now a day, however, STOP the Non Sense Waiste of money yucky COLORING - Scotch/whisky is not a darn cheap pencil crayon any way. Don't need double trouble in this life. Walked away so many brands bottles whIle shopping for a good scotch/whisky. Turned me off from buying ,sipping whisky. Stay away from Non Clarified marketing tricks. 1 second ago
Nice one! Bunna's definitely on the wishlist.
It's a great distillery & location and the staff were fantastic. I've never had a bad whisky from Bunnahabhain and the range of expressions & single casks they had was really impressive!
Well worth the visit 😁🥃👍
Looks like an amazing distillery. Must go there some day
Fully recommend it! Jo and I both really enjoyed it and the staff were brilliant. Will be great when they've got their new visitors centre set up as they're kind of squashed in a small room at the moment 😜👍
Very nice Ben. Loved our visit to Bunnahabhain and I think its now one of my favorite distilleries. We did the Warehouse 9 tour and tasted from the cask in the warehouse. Great whiskies all around!
Cheers Gents! Of all the distilleries on Islay Bunna is the one I think we missed out on the most with. Next time we definitely need to do the Warehouse 9 tour and see production. They make a cracking whisky, not been disappointed yet 😁🥃👍
Ben, this video brought back some wonderful memories from my Premium Tasting at Bunnahabhain in April. l also had Leah for my guide in April and it was a solo tasting since I was the only booked for that time slot. On that day, I was also able to taste the 36 Year Old Canasta Finish, one of the best whiskies that I have ever tasted. I have done the Warehouse No. 9 Experience four different times during my Bunnahabhain visits and it is always a great experience. Cheers !
I've definitely got to try the warehouse 9 experience next time! They've got some really interesting cask finishes stored away 😉
The premium tasting was still really good though. Don't think I've come across a Canasta finish before, I love moments/whiskies like that which stick with you!
Thanks for watching 😁👍
sorry to be offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an instagram account?
I was stupid lost the login password. I love any tricks you can give me
@Kaiser James instablaster =)
@Malakai Riley i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
@Malakai Riley it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thank you so much, you saved my account !
Another good vid Ben. I haven't really tried many Bunna's other than the 12, well not that I can recall at least, but some of those sounded interesting. Looking forward to seeing your other distillery experiences over there.
They're consistently very good - worth giving a try when you get the chance 😁👍
Fantastic video mate. Loved it. Thanks for sharing. I love Bunnahabhain🥃
Cheers Al! Bunnahabhain sure now how to make a good whisky 😁👍
Really enjoying these videos - love the sketches. We are planning to visit Islay early Sept or maybe end of Aug. Still not booked anything. Will have to get your top tips after all the videos are out.
Cheers Phil, the sketches were a bit of a compromise but hopefully a little more interesting than my face 😉
I've got a few notes/tips jotted down, would love to talk through plans with you guys 👍
@@WhiskyGeek great will certainly follow up on that.
I was at the same place on March 30, and picked up a bottle of that Moine Marsala... It will wait its turn to be opened!
It's a bit mad that we visited so close to each other haha. I went for the Marsala and PX Moine, they too are waiting patiently! 🥃👌😁
@@WhiskyGeek Each of us didn't know the other was going... I just booked the first Rabbie's Islay tour of the year last July and look what happened!
Great video of Bunnahabhain, Ben! Good to see you enjoying the tasting (very studious with notebook in hand and pencil at the ready) and recording your first impressions. Yep, that little road approaching the distillery defies the imagination - how on earth do the big trucks navigate it? Makes you wonder. As for the millions of pounds to be invested here in the next few years, I'm glad to hear of it. It's a stunningly good distillery - without a shadow of a doubt - but it's been left in dire need of some tender loving care for quite some years now. Deserves to be spruced up and returned to its former glory. Especially exciting to hear of some holiday cottages which will be available for renting. There's just one thing I hope they don't change: the tastings in Warehouse No. 9. That place has so much atmosphere, it's just magic. And yes, their staff are what makes the place - friendly, up for a chat and a few stories, they exude the typical Islay relaxed openness and friendliness. Hope you enjoy your bottles and provide us with some cracking Bunna reviews in the not too distant future. Cheers!
Haha, I had a couple of people coming and asking about my notepad and wanting to flick through it! Couldn't help but sketch some observations/ideas as I was walking around the distilleries too.
I quite liked the little road - I was in no rush to bypass the scenery! Some of those steep banks and harsh drops seemed super risky for a lorry though! Jo was less of a fan when driving back 😉
So many of the distilleries are either working on or planning developments/improvements. I'm really looking forward to going back and seeing a snapshot of the changes since this visit. Bunna, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Ardbeg, Laphroaig & Bruichladdich all mentioned some upcoming works, then there's Port Ellen and Ardnahoe to add to it! Exciting times 👍
They were pretty excited to be getting a purpose built visitors centre and car park - think they're getting tired of being squashed in the current room haha. Even the offices looked like they needed attention! Those cottages would be an amazing place to stay, waking up with a view over the bay each morning and getting to just nip over for a dram or two... will keep an eye on them. There's also a load of space up above the distillery now where the old workers homes were (unfortunately left in such a dire state that there's no recovering them), but they're hoping to make use of that too.
I've been looking forward to opening a bottle or two as I've been putting this video together! Still have half of the samples left from the tasting too - think a few reviews are in order 🥃👍
Cheers Russell!
Whisky Geek Many thanks, Ben, for your kind (and very extensive) reply - and enjoy those wonderful samples!
Well done, Ben! We couldn't help but had to throw stones into the water, how about you?
Back next year for Feis Ile...
I'd love to do Feis Ile next year! I've been seeing all the events popping up for this year and getting really jealous lol. I'd best start saving!
Haha, Jo was desperate to get into the warmth so we didn't hang around on the pier for as long as I'd have liked. I wanted to take a dram out there and do a little tasting and walk along the shore a bit 😉 Will add it to the list of things to do for when I go back!
Next time we go I best get to try the 18 year old! Smelled amazing 😊
We'd best get taxi's then!
Love the island and it's whisky. Been there twice during the last three years. Never during the festival though. The island is just too crowded then. Did the warehouse tasting back then, there's nothing better than drinking whisky in a dunnage warehouse 😄
Keep it up, looking forward to the rest of the vlogs 👍
Yeah it's an incredible place, can't wait to get back there! I kind of want to try Feis Ile at some point (next year maybe). I'm not normally a fan of crowds but if it's all whisky-folk then I should be fine 😉 One of my regrets is not having spent more time with the people we did cross paths with on the island!
I love sampling whiskies from the cask/in the warehouse - perfect setting for it 🥃👌
Cheers Tim 😁
Great Video. Any more stops on the tour?
Oh yes! We managed to get around them all - Caol Ila up next 😁
Cheers Christopher 👍
Nice one Ben. What a place that is. What was your favourite of the ones you tried there?
Interesting question - of the ones on the premium tasting I think I enjoyed the 18 YO the most! Then the 14YO single cask and then the 25YO.
Overall though, my favourites were sampled in the visitors centre afterwards with the staff. There was a peated PX 14YO single cask and an unpeated 12YO PX which both stood out and the Erigh Na Grene travel exclusive was also a little special/unique. Looking forward to cracking them open and really exploring them soon!
Cheers Bill 🥃👌
Love this man! Great video series on Islay! Bunnahabhain is my favourite distillery (I have 25 unique bottles) but I haven’t been to Islay yet. This summer maybe... What about all these single cask bottlings, are they full 0.7 or smaller?
Wow, that's a sizable collection even if it wasn't all one distillery! Are a lot of them independent bottlings? The most I've got it 9 from Tomatin I think. Bunna definitely know how to make a great dram 🥃👌
They're half size bottles I think. You can fill your own 70cl of the 'current' cask but as it gets low they decant into a set of 35cl's and 5cl's for the shelves then bring a new cask in 👍 I was tempted to get one of each haha.
Whisky Geek Thanks for that info, Ben! 👍🏼 Yeah, I spend too much on whisky. It seems to accellerate :) I think 10-12 of them are indies. Bunna is a distillery that is popular among indie bottlers (like Caol Ila). It has to to with availability I guess. I usually try to find at least one good review before I take the chance on an IB, but its hard to find when its a single cask. WhiskyFun.com reviews many Bunnahabhains actually.
I love a good indie bottling, like you say they can be a bit of a risk though! I've kind of steered away from buying too many recently as they're not very relatable to most people but I feel like you can get a better understanding for a distilleries character or the effects of certain casks from IB single casks.
was there last year but having to miss out when i go back in may :(. after seeing this vid i might have to dump the other lads when we get off the ferry at port askaig hotel for a pint while i shoot off to bunna and grab a hand filled bottle and be back in time for the caol ila tour. well done on the videos - looking forward to seeing more.
Have you got a fairly packed agenda? I believe Bunna also do "end of day" tours a couple of times a week too which may be chance not to miss out! Bunna was one of our favourites (as was Caol Ila!). Cheers 🥃👌
@@WhiskyGeek we only have 2 full days. arrive thursday pm do caol ila. friday its laphroaig, lagavulin, ardbeg. saturday its jura, bruichladdich and possibly kilchoman and/or ardnahoe somewhere in there. head home on sunday. missing out on bowmore and bunna altogether as we did tours last year. no warehouse demo at lagavulin either as its friday (sobs). i would happily miss out jura (whisky is bit of a flop but being on the island could be worthwhile) if it meant another crack at bunna. u did the right thing going with the mrs and not having to be pragmatic with a group of 5. the lads im with arent all that into bunna - its all about the peat monsters and bowmore. cant wait.
@@greigmartin4339 Man we didn't feel like 6 days was long enough! I was gonna say; surprised Jura made your list - you could probably get Bunna & Ardnahoe in in the same amount of time! Yeah I'm lucky - Jo just likes exploring with me so was happy coming along for the ride! Will be great to revisit with her when she can sample the whiskies too.
Should still be a great trip though 🥃👍
KISSS - Keep it simple sense stupids, clean and tasty scotch. Thanks.
ALL Distilleries listen up,
Don't care what business purpose is now a day, however, STOP the Non Sense Waiste of money yucky COLORING - Scotch/whisky is not a darn cheap pencil crayon any way.
Don't need double trouble in this life.
Walked away so many brands bottles whIle shopping for a good scotch/whisky. Turned me off from buying ,sipping whisky. Stay away from Non Clarified marketing tricks.
1 second ago