Bunnahabhain 2013 Banyuls Wine Cask Finish
April 29, 2025
For this tasting I’ve opened a unique creation from a prominent Hebridean distiller. It’s the Bunnahabhain 2013 Banyuls Wine Cask Finish from the Bunnahabhain Distillery, the Northernmost whisky distiller on the Scottish isle of Islay.
Now, if you’re like me, the first question you may have about this whisky is, what the heck is Banyuls wine. I admit, as a Northern Californian with easy access to Napa and Sonoma wines, I’m not too much of a European wine drinker so I had to do some research. Banyuls, it turns out, is a French wine produced in a Mediterranean seaside area of the country, and it is a fortified, sweet desert wine, so you can get a clue as to the influence it might have on a whisky spirit.
Now, I’m a whisky geek so I love it when distillers provide lots of details about their releases, and the Bunna folks, are good about that. Normally I would just say this is a 10 year old whisky. But with this one I can tell you that the spirit was distilled on February 26th, 2013 and bottled on March 21st, 2023 which clearly makes it a 10 year, 24 day old whisky! After spending 7 years in ex-bourbon hogsheads, it spent its final three years getting finished in those Banyuls wine casks. And the alcohol level here is a bit on the robust side at 54.2 percent ABV. And like all Bunnahabhain releases, this one is non-chill filtered and has no color added. Because Bunnahabhain doesn’t mess around.
It’s got an attractive, natural amber, polished mahogany color that it’s pulled from those casks and some thick, beady legs that seem to be in no hurry to finish their run down the glass.
Let’s see what the nose reveals.
Nose:
My first impression is a big “Wow!” This is nice on the nostrils. I start by getting that sense of full-bodied fruit, most notably cherries. This precedes the somewhat sweet odor - without the tingles - of flat ginger ale. There is definitely some prune juice. And malty cereal.
Moving on to the taste.
Palate:
I get the influence of wine, although not initially the sweetness, just the tannins. There’s a pleasant warming spice. The next big flavor explosion on my tongue is vanilla, but with the added intensity of vanilla bean scrapings like the kind you get with the back of the knife right out of the pod. There are some figs there. I get licorice that’s been singed on an open flame, dipped in singed maple syrup. That sweet earthy root beer flavor shows up next. (But not just any root beer, Henry Weinhard’s root beer!) And creme brûlée.
54.2 percent ABV has just enough alcohol burn to it to warrant modifying it a bit, with a few drops of water.
Nose + H2O:
The water opens up this whisky and reveals more complexity to the fruit notes, if that’s possible. I get the smell of pomegranates. And more of the sweet wine notes.
Palate + H2O:
The water gives me the taste of cinnamon on buttered toast. Then there’s like a sweet wine sangria. And cotton candy.
Finish:
There’s a medium-length finish here that starts with a sugary sweetness on the lips and then moves a nice chunk of that sweetness inside the mouth. I’m left with Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum, wood, strawberry shortcake, and spiced vanilla bean sugar.
Rating:
OK, let’s be honest here. You can’t finish a non-peated whisky in a fortified wine cask and expect to come out with something that isn't a dessert whisky. So…is THIS a dessert whisky? Well…it is sweet. But it’s got tremendous complexity, too. And while I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of wine finishes with my whiskies, I found the word “Wow!” coming out of my mouth a lot while drinking this one. Bunnahabhain’s Distillery Manager Andrew Brown did a masterful job of creating something special here. At this, point you’ll have to scramble to find a bottle, but I recommend that you start scrambling now. I’m giving the 2013 Bunnahabhain Banyuls Wine Cask Finish release an enthusiastic 10 finger pour.
Age Statement: 10 years (& 24 days)
ABV: 54.2 %
Chill-filtered: no
E150a caramel coloring added: no
Average Price (700ml): £110 (UK)
https://bunnahabhain.com/products/2013-banyuls-cask-finish?_pos=2&_sid=5c270315e&_ss=r
