Bunnahabhain unveils 2025 21yo Cask Strength

23 Oct

Bunnahabhain, Islay’s most northerly distillery since 1881, has revealed the second edition of its popular 21 Year Old Cask Strength series.

Matured on the rugged north-eastern coastline of Islay and crafted using spring water from the Margadale river, this much anticipated whisky delivers a pure expression of Bunnahabhain’s celebrated unpeated, sherried house style.

Over the past five years, Bunnahabhain have released an annual cask strength bottling at either 12 or 21 Years Old specifically to capture the magic of tasting straight from the cask in Bunnahabhain’s coastal warehouses, offering whisky lovers worldwide their own unfiltered warehouse moment. This year the distillery decided to release both; with the 12 Year Old launching in early September.

Bottled at 53.1% ABV, twenty-one carefully chosen casks were selected for this exclusive 21 Year Old release, which spent most of its life aging in Ex-Oloroso Sherry casks before undergoing a final 21 month finish in the finest Pedro Ximénez casks. In comparison to Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez is thicker, sweeter and packed with syrupy flavours like toffee and figs. The result is everything you’d come to expect from Bunnahabhain with creamy berries, roasted nuts and gentle sea spray at the forefront complemented by a complex yet sweet syrupy layer from the Pedro Ximénez casks, that coats the palate with lingering bursts of figs and molasses.

At first glance, the difference between the 2024 and 2025 editions may appear to be minimal, with only a 0.5% ABV difference. But in the glass, that small drop in ABV has transformed from a scotch full of darker fruits, heavier spice and intensity that filled the palate to one that’s subtler, with a silkier texture that allows candied orange, raising and delicate floral notes to shine.

On the release, Master Blender Julieann Fernandez said: “Bunnahabhain’s cask strength series is a real highlight for me. Not all whiskies work at cask strength, and not all whiskies stand up to long maturation in sherry casks. However, Bunnahabhain is a robust & complex spirit; unpeated, oily, with notes of dried fruits and cereal so it stands up to both these challenges.
There is a slight drop in ABV this year and you would be forgiven for thinking it wouldn’t change the spirit too much. However this release really is a lot more subtle. The spice is gentler and there is a much smoother finish. Cask strength doesn’t always have to be about power. Sometimes, it’s about poise. The 2025 release show how small changes can bring a whisky into perfect focus.”

Priced at £275, Bunnahabhain 21 Year Old Cask Strength is non-chill filtered with no added colour, allowing whisky lovers to enjoy as nature intended. It is available globally at www.bunnahabhain.com and selected specialist retailers from 15 th October 2025.