Bunnahabhain 21 1991 Duncan Taylor Dimensions

Thanks to /u/ScotchChick for this sample.

Welcome to my new ongoing series, “Bunna-have you any more sir?”, in which I go through my backlog of way, WAY too many Bunnahabhains and review them.

When trying many, many different whiskies, I tend to brag. Wait, no, that’s not how I wanted to start this.

When trying different whiskies, I eventually get through different independent bottlers. However in order to sort and manage their various types of whiskies, independent bottlers will use different names.

And surprise, surprise, these names are meant to mean something. Wonders never cease.

So when we end up with Bunnahabhain 21 1991 Duncan Taylor Dimensions, we have to ask ourselves this question: What do we not do? Invade Russia in the winter, correct.

Also we don’t assume it’ll be like other Duncan Taylors without doing some research. Turns out the Dimensions line is made up of 10 to 39 year old whiskies, all single casks, all cask strength, no colour added and nonchillfiltered. All of the information is right there, on the front. In other words, this is the super premium line.

And it’s called Dimensions because of the different Dimensions the casks go through in the Tardis to age them.

Wait, no, that’s my fanfic. Since it’s made up of single casks, there’s multiple dimensions of flavours that make up the whole group. And as far as marketing goes, that’s pretty okay by me.

Let’s see how this particular Dimension tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Islay

Vintage: 11.1991

Bottled: 05.2013

Cask Number: 5372

Number of Bottles: 175

Abv: 52.3%

Colour: 5Y 9/8

Nose: Pear, cloves, dandelion, red Sambuca, rosemary, birch bark

Nice, light flavour on the nose. It starts ramping up with some sweet, fruity/herbal notes, floral, and even some of that distinct birch note.

So it’s unique, but you have to give it time. You know, like life.

Taste: Pear nectar, cinnamon, cloves, caramel, banana

Continues on with sweet, then some spice. Like before, I give this a good amount of time (and eventually some water) waiting on it. And much like Godot, my wait is in vain. Unlike our wait for Gadot, who did a great job as Wonderwoman.

Hopefully Godot learns from that.

Spice, banana, caramel. Nothing too crazy. If you like fried plantains, then you may like it more than me, however I wanted a bit more going on.

Finish: Cinnamon, cloves, dry pear, caramel, grass

More spice forward at the end, then some drier, rather than sweet pear, and grass. It’s long, however again I’m looking for something that’s not coming.

Nice to sip on.

Conclusion: It’s frustrating to score a dram like this. It was picked, I’m guessing (since my ability to read minds hasn’t evolved yet), due to the nose. The nose is interesting. It’s what you go for on this one.

That said, the taste and finish are nice to sip on. It’s a mellow, spicy, pear and banana driven whisky. There’s worst things in the world.

That said, at 21 years and part of the super-premium end, I expect more, you know?

78/100

Scotch review #875, Islay review #218, Whisky Network review #1396