Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Burn Stewart Distillers – Distell Group

Developed by the Highland Distilleries company in the late 19th century, before joining the Edrington group (Macallan, Glenrothes, Highland Park, Tamdhu) in the 20th century, Bunnahabhain was, until the early 2000s, only Islay's second malt to opt for an unpeated profile. A major supplier for blends (over 90% of production) such as Black Bottle, Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark and Scottish Leader, Bunnahabhain made a name for itself in 2002 with the releases of a magnificent 1968 vintage named Auld Acquaintance, a 1966 Feis Isle, a 1980 single cask and a black label 34 year old. It was a prosperous year for a distillery which until then had only a single expression, Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old, presented in a stocky green bottle and strongly influenced by its sherry cask maturation. Since being bought in 2003 by Burns Stewart Distillers (Distell group), Bunnahabhain has released numerous limited editions and finally made the most of its potential.

A Bunnahabhain distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2017, matured for 9 years in a refill bourbon barrel. This is a limited edition of 228 bottles for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by a group of friends with a particular passion for whisky. The club selects casks whose bottles are then only available to members. The name of the distillery is not mentioned on the label but each distillery is given a number as the malt is bottled. The first cask selected by the SMWS, for example, was Glenfarclas, and it therefore uses the number 1. The second number refers to the number of bottlings from each distillery. The club was sold to Glenmorangie in 2004 and then to a group of investors in 2016.