Bunnahabhain 8 Years Old 2016 (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage's 100 Proof Edition is a numbered series of bottlings released at exactly 57.1% ABV, the figure corresponding to Imperial 100 proof under the historical British proof system used in Scotland for centuries before the metric strength notation took over. Each release in the line is bottled at that consistent strength point, drawn from casks where the natural ABV either lands close to 57.1% or has been brought there with measured dilution to hit the proof. Edition #31 holds 8 year old heavily peated Staoisha Bunnahabhain.

The cask programme is first and second fill Oloroso butts, the same combination used in the distillery's own 12 Year Old Cask Strength annual editions. Active first-fill Oloroso provides aggressive sherry weight to a younger spirit, while second-fill quietens the cask intensity and lets more spirit character through. The combination on 8-year-old Staoisha produces the smoke-with-sherry profile that Bunnahabhain's heavily peated material does well: smoke and walnut layered together rather than fighting.

The 57.1% bottling strength preserves the layered cask and smoke character with full body. Reviewer notes describe thick peat smoke, leather, red berries, smoked meats, wood smoke, ash, creamy vanilla, liquorice, black pepper, hot cinnamon, dried grapes, toasted nuts and subtle plums. That is the kind of dense profile that first-fill Oloroso on heavily peated stock consistently delivers. Natural colour, non-chill-filtered.