Bunnahabhain 2013 Mòine Cask #120

Warehouse 9 is the dunnage warehouse at Bunnahabhain's distillery on the Sound of Islay, converted from the old floor maltings. Visitors who book the Warehouse 9 tasting experience pick from a rotating set of casks selected by the master blender, then the chosen cask is hand-filled and labelled by a member of the team in the distillery shop. This 12 year old Mòine comes from cask 120, a single Bordeaux wine cask bottled at 59.2% natural cask strength.

Mòine is Bunnahabhain's heavily-peated production, run through the same tall pot stills as the unpeated house style. The peat character at around 35-38 ppm gives the spirit a campfire-smoke profile that's less medicinal than south-coast Islay but distinctly phenolic. Twelve years in a single Bordeaux cask is enough time for the wine residue to thoroughly infuse the spirit rather than sit on top as a finish; this is full-term wine maturation, not a wood-finishing pass.

Bordeaux casks bring a specific signature to peated spirit. The wine is predominantly a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with a structured tannic profile from extended skin contact and oak ageing. The 225-litre barrique format is small relative to a sherry butt or hogshead, so wood-to-spirit ratio runs higher and the cask transfer is concentrated. Expect dark berry, blackcurrant and stewed plum from the wine residue, with the wine's tannin giving the peat a peppery, drying finish rather than the softer ash-and-honey profile that bourbon casks produce. As a single-cask hand-fill from the distillery floor, this exists in a tiny outturn; once cask 120 is empty, the bottling is gone. Natural colour, non-chill-filtered, Warehouse 9 hand-fill exclusive.