Old Malt Cask Bunnahabhain 16 Years (700 ml)

When Douglas Laing & Co. launched the Old Malt Cask range in 1998, the founding principle was radical restraint: one cask, one distillery, no blending, no caramel, no chill-filtration — and a deliberate 50% ABV standard rather than raw cask strength, a calculated departure from peers like Cadenhead's or Signatory. This 1997 Bunnahabhain is a direct product of that philosophy. Bunnahabhain sits at the northern tip of Islay's Port Askaig coast, drawing water from the Margadale Spring through granite and peat-laced hillside — yet the distillery is historically the least peated on the island, producing spirit that foregrounds malt, sea salt, and dried fruit over smoke. Distilled in 1997 and matured in a single cask (cask type and number stated on label) for 16 years, then selected by Hunter Laing's monthly tasting panel and bottled at 50% ABV, non-chill-filtered, with no caramel colouring. What makes this expression categorically unusual: at 16 years from a non-peated Islay source, it occupies a near-empty niche — maritime salinity and waxy malt without the phenolic weight that defines most Islay releases. Once this cask is exhausted, the expression is gone permanently; the distillation year and cask number on the label are its only true identity.