Bunnahabhain Bonfires & Blackberries (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

Third entry in the Cooper's Choice Golden Cut single-cask series alongside Honeyed Smoke & Spice and Peat Smoked Toffees, all from heavily peated Bunnahabhain stock at the same 50% bottling strength. Bonfires & Blackberries comes from cask 0070; the bottler's name flags the expected flavour territory the cask programme has produced, campfire smoke from the peated spirit set against dark berry character pulled out of the Port wood. The cask programme is ex-bourbon for the primary maturation, then a Port wine cask for the finishing stage. American oak ex-bourbon brings vanilla, coconut and toasted-corn lactones into the spirit during the long primary stretch, with the heavy char layer adding a subtle caramelised-sugar element. The Port finish then layers fortified-wine richness on top: depending on the Port style, that can range from the stewed dark fruit of a Ruby through to the nutty oxidative dryness of an aged Tawny. The Bonfires & Blackberries naming points firmly to the ruby-fruit register. Heavy peat against dark fruit is one of the more proven combinations in Islay finishing. The phenolic smoke carries through the wine sweetness rather than getting buried, while the Port residue adds blackberry, plum and a touch of cocoa that complements rather than fights the peat. Bourbon-cask vanilla underneath gives the midpalate something rounded to land on. Natural colour, single cask, non-chill-filtered.