Bunnahabhain 1972-2012 - The Golden Cask - Single Cask CM184

Bunnahabhain was founded in 1881, the same year as the other traditionally unpeated Islay whisky, Bruichladdich. Bunnahabhain was owned by Highland Distillers for over a century; when Edrington took full control in 1999 the distillery was mothballed, and in 2003 Bunnahabhain was sold to Burn Stewart Distillers. Distell International bought Burn Stewart in 2013 after previous owners CL Financial went bust.

Highland Distillers bottled Bunnahabhain’s unpeated Islay malt whisky as a 12-year-old from the 1970s onwards. Burn Stewart added older expressions to the core range and now release many single casks and limited editions, some of which use peated Bunnahabhain, which has been produced since the late 1990s. In 2010 the bottling strength of Bunnahabhain’s whiskies was increased to 46.3% and colouring and chill filtration were discontinued; sales increased by 160% over the next ten years. Independent bottlings of both unpeated and peated Bunnahabhain are easy to find and generally high quality.

House of Macduff is an independent bottler of Scotch whiskies. The company is a subsidiary of Cumbrae Supply Co., and most of their releases are single malt and single grain whiskies under their Golden Cask brand. Cumbrae Supply Co. has been owned by the Macduff family since 1987 and has been bottling single malt whiskies since the 1990s. 

The Golden Cask series first appeared in 2002 and have released some terrific whiskies, including Bowmore, Highland Park, Macallan and a string of excellent Port Ellen casks. House of Macduff is also behind the rare Whisky Life series, a short run of casks selected by John McDougall around 2002, and proprietary brands including Burns Nectar single malt and the Selkie blended malt.