Bunnahabhain 18y

This is one my long-running favorites, but never got around to write down a review of it. Let's give it a go, shall we?

Bottle bought 2017.

Given the (both excellent) 12 year and the 25 year old OB Bunnahabhains, I think the 18 year old makes a lot sense. It's a clear step up from the 12, but not on the level of the 25. They're all similar but with a somewhat linearly increasing richness and intensity. The 18 might be a sweet spot when it comes to price/quality though, as the 25 comes with a steep premium for that extra quality. If you, like me, are ready to pay a little more to get an excellent whisky, the 18 might be the best bet in the bunch. I'd like to score this a bit into the 90s, but it's after all a pretty standard dram. It does not have a huge "wow" factor, it's just a pretty damn good whisky. Great, even! For a reasonably available, well-made standard bottling that doesn't put you in too much personal debt, one of the best. It has to get a lower score than the 25 (2017 version), so 88 will do. I usually don't pit whiskies against others review-scoring-wise (it's inconsistent, impossible and will quickly lead to insanity) but against other OBs in the same range, I'll make an exception.