Bunnahabhain is a distillery on Islay's remote north east coast, built in 1881 by William Robertson and the brothers William and James Greenlees.1,2,3 Its spirit was made mainly for blending, especially for The Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark and later Black Bottle.4,5,6 CVH Spirits has owned it since 2023.7,8
A deeply Oloroso-influenced, unpeated whisky with dark fruits, chocolate, coffee and savoury spice, already nicely balanced despite its cask-driven character.
The coastal Bunnahabhain profile combines with sweet-and-sour Amontillado sherry notes, creating a juicy, spicy and really attractive whisky.
An excellent, austere and petrolic whisky with gravelly mineral qualities, waxy texture and a fresh, peppery lift when diluted.
The founders also built houses, a road and a pier, at a cost of £30,000, but the road saw little heavy traffic, as goods came and went by sea.1,2,3 Production officially began in 1883.1,9 In 1887 its owner, the Islay Distillery Company, merged with Glenrothes distillery to form Highland Distillers, which supplied the blends of Robertson & Baxter.4,5,6 That year Alfred Barnard's book described malt barns with kilns that burned only peat, six washbacks for fermenting, one wash still and one spirit still.2,6 It made about 200,000 gallons a year.2,6 In 1894 it was given electric light, the earliest record of electricity being used on Islay.5
After a short closure in the 1930s, a new road was built to the distillery in 1960; until then it had been supplied by ship.5,10,11 In 1963 a second pair of stills doubled the number of stills to four, and the floor maltings were torn out.6,9,10 After a downturn in the market, it was mothballed in 1982.5,9 Production started again in 1984, but output was kept low for many years.5,9 The last boat delivery docked in 1993, as supplies now came by road.5,10,11
In 1999 Highland Distillers became part of Edrington.4,9 In 2003 Edrington sold the distillery and the Black Bottle blend to Burn Stewart Distillers for £10 million.9,10,12 Andrew Brown became distillery manager in 2011.5,10 In 2014 Burn Stewart passed to the South African drinks firm Distell, after Burn Stewart's owner CL Financial went bust.5,10,12
Distell announced an £11 million upgrade in 2017; work began in 2019 by pulling down warehouses on the shore, and a new visitor centre opened in 2021.9,10,13 Brendan McCarron joined as master distiller in 2021 to oversee production and distilling.10 In October 2021 work began on a £6.5 million biomass energy centre, fuelled by spent malt and Islay wood chips, to put Bunnahabhain on track for net-zero distillation.14,15 When Heineken bought Distell in 2023, Remgro kept Distell's Capevin Holdings, whose Scotch whisky business became CVH Spirits, with Remgro as majority shareholder.7,8
Every bottle in Peated with a vintage year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 1963 | 1 |
| 1965 | 3 |
| 1966 | 1 |
| 1967 | 2 |
| 1968 | 2 |
| 1971 | 1 |
| 1974 | 3 |
| 1975 | 1 |
| 1976 | 3 |
| 1977 | 2 |
| 1978 | 3 |
| 1979 | 1 |
| 1980 | 2 |
| 1981 | 1 |
| 1986 | 3 |
| 1987 | 3 |
| 1988 | 6 |
| 1989 | 7 |
| 1990 | 4 |
| 1991 | 7 |
| 1992 | 1 |
| 1996 | 1 |
| 1997 | 5 |
| 1998 | 3 |
| 1999 | 2 |
| 2000 | 1 |
| 2001 | 4 |
| 2002 | 9 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| 2004 | 8 |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2007 | 11 |
| 2008 | 13 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2012 | 2 |
| 2013 | 60 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | 2 |
Bottles in Peated distilled at Bunnahabhain, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2002 | 2 |
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2004 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2006 | 1 |
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2008 | 1 |
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2023 | 12 |
| 2024 | 17 |
| 2025 | 19 |
| 2026 | 18 |
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Its water comes from the Margadale spring; Barnard found it came from a stream fed by Loch Staoinsha.1,9,10 The Gazetteer for Scotland says its malt comes from the Port Ellen Maltings, while ScotchWhisky.com lists various suppliers.9,11 The distillery calls its single malt unpeated, but ScotchWhisky.com lists plain malt at most 2ppm and peated malt at least 35ppm.1,9,10 Peat levels fell to almost nothing from the 1960s, but Burn Stewart began reviving smokier spirit, and ScotchWhisky.com says about 20% of production is now heavily peated.1,9,10 The wort, sugary water from the mash, ferments in six washbacks made of Oregon pine.9,10,11 Fermentation can last as long as 100 hours.9,10 It distils in two wash stills and two spirit stills.5,11 The spirit from the wash stills is redistilled in a second still, the spirit still.10 Steam heats the stills, and shell and tube condensers turn the vapour back into spirit.9 The distillery says its stills are the tallest on Islay, with unusually long necks, which let it make a lighter, more delicate spirit.9,10,11 ScotchWhisky.com calls the wash stills onion shaped and the spirit stills pear shaped, a shape the Gazetteer says is said to give a spicier whisky.9,10,11 The distillery calls its whisky oily, while ScotchWhisky.com says the stills' low fill levels and large amount of copper help make what has always been a light style.1,9,10 Historic Environment Scotland lists the buildings as Category C, which gives them legal protection for their special architectural or historic interest.3 It notes that the group has been spoiled by additional warehouses.3
