Bunnahabhain 1968-2002 - Auld Acquaintance

INFORMATION

Bunnahabhain 1968 - 2002. Auld Acquaintance. One of 2,002 bottles. 70cl. 43.8%.

The legendary Bunnahabhain 1968 34-year-old Auld Acquaintance, also known as the Hogmanay Limited Edition, was distilled on New Years Eve 1968 and bottled in 2002 in a limited edition of 2002 bottles at its natural cask strength of 43.8%. Long known as one of the distillery’s greatest ever official bottlings, this 1968 Bunnahabhain was filled into a small batch of exquisite sherry casks and the resulting whisky is a rich, complex and deeply satisfying dram.

DISTILLERY:Bunnahabhain

DISTILLERY STATUS:Working

Bottle ABV:43.8%

Bottle SIZE:70cl / 700ml

Bottle PRODUCED:2,002

BOTTLER:Distillery Bottling

SPIRIT TYPE:Scotland

LIMITED EDITION:yes

CASK TYPE:Single Malt

REGION:Islay

DISTILLED YEAR:1968

BOTTLING DATE::2002

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.