SMWS 10.135 “Delicious Sear and Sizzle” Review

According to the SMWS bottle codes list this SMWS 10.135 “Delicious Sear and Sizzle” is a Bunnahabhain. According to the stats on the bottle, it’s a 9-year-old Bunnahabhain from a single refill Ex-Bourbon Barrel. And because it’s a single cask from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society it’s bottled at full cask strength and non-chill filtered.

SMWS 10-135 Delicious Sear and Sizzle

All that’s left, before diving into this Scotch review, is letting you know it hails from a peated batch of Bunnie. We’ve now covered the basics and can hop to it.

SMWS 10.135 “Delicious Sear and Sizzle” Review: Details and Tasting Notes

In SMWS’ Words:

Sweet, peaty, nutty smoke on the nose, binds everything else together – prawns on a bed of salt, oysters, kelp, Frazzles and feverfew. The palate boasts intense peat smoke, barbecued lobster, Liquorice Allsorts, smoked walnuts, salty pork crackling and mustard vinaigrette – good enough to eat! The reduced nose evokes a barbeque outside a boat-builder’s shed (sail-cloth, rope, timbers) – with pork fat sizzling on charcoal embers, burnt lemon on mackerel; meringues and dark chocolate with sea-salt for afters. The reduced palate – sweet, salty, smoky, tar and embers; smoked almonds, grilled pineapple and mango and perfectly cooked peppercorn steaks – delicious sear and sizzle!

Details about the Delicious Sear and Sizzle (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)

Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)

Region: Islay, Scotland

Distiller: Bunnahabhain
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: Refill Ex-Bourbon Barrel
Age: 9 years
ABV: 58.5%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Price: $130

Tasting Notes

EYE
Light gold

NOSE
Smoke, saline, iodine, honey, fruit, vanilla and some notes of pancakes, plastic and chalk.

PALATE
Smoke, saline, honey, fruit, cinnamon oil, plastic, malt and some bits of dilly herbal, vanilla and fish oil.

FINISH
Long -> Sweetly fruity and honied that fades out charred and smoky.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced and full bodied with an oily feel.

a crisp and elegant whisky that delivers from beginning to end.

SMWS 10.135 “Delicious Sear and Sizzle” Review: Overall and Score

I can best describe it as going camping by the sea with the combination of food-like and maritime-like aromas and flavors that come drifting through. It’s sharp, it’s crisp and it’s elegant; I could drink the SMWS 10.135 “Delicious Sear and Sizzle” often and be quite happy.

Adding some water brings out bigger notes of fruit on the aroma and knocks the smoke down a bit. On the palate it also opens up a bit more fruit, but it really catapults the smoke and brings a bit more of a BBQ essence to it. All-in-all a solid whisky.

SCORE: 85/100 (B)

SMWS 10-135 Delicious Sear and Sizzle Review