Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà is the distillery that never uses peat deciding to use some, and it turns out to be rather good at it. This Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà review is about a 46.3% peated malt that costs about £48, tastes of gentle smoke, dried fruit and toffee with a trace of salt, and is a smoky, nutty, surprisingly soft dram.
I like it. The peat is real, and it behaves itself, and the sherry gives it a sweetness that most heavy smokers lack. It is a smoky malt for somebody who wants the smoke at conversational volume.
Bunnahabhain, on the north-east coast of Islay, has built its name on mostly unpeated whisky, so a peated release is a deliberate departure. The Bunnahabhain distillery has bottled a lightly to moderately peated malt under the Toiteach name, which means smoky in Gaelic, and A Dhà means the second, so this is the second edition.
It is bottled at 46.3% with no age statement and is matured in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The official price I found was £47, with one retailer at £49.95, so about £48. Peat explained covers what the smoke is, and the Bunnahabhain 12 shows the unpeated side of the same house.
A smouldering log in a sherry-scented room, a handful of walnuts and a sprinkle of black pepper.
The nose is smoky and sweet, with gentle peat, dried fruit and toffee, then a little spice, a hint of salt and a faint earthy note. It smells warm, round and very inviting, with the smoke sitting comfortably alongside the sherry.
On the palate it is smooth and nutty, with sherry, pepper and a creamy middle, then a drift of smoke, a hint of cocoa and a firm oak. The 46.3% gives it good body, and the texture is silky. The peat is softer than the island’s heavyweights, and it blends very well with the fruit.
The finish is long and warm, with smoke, oak and a faint sweetness. It is dry, clean and rather moreish.
A few drops of water bring out the toffee and soften the pepper, and I think it is a little better for it. It also gets sweeter as it sits, and the smoke settles into a calm background. At 46.3% it takes water well, and a patient pour pays off.
Neat, with a few drops of water, in a tulip glass. It is a very good sipper and a gentle introduction to peated whisky. It makes a lovely Old Fashioned, where the smoke and the sherry sweeten the bitters, and a good Manhattan.
It goes well with smoked fish, a strong cheese and a cold night. It is a good gift for somebody who likes sherried whisky and would like to try a little smoke.
At about £48 it scores 76. Bunnahabhain 12 scores 80 at about £43, which is four points better for £5 less. Ardbeg 10 scores 72 at about £45, and Port Charlotte 10 scores 75 at about £60. Caol Ila 12 scores 68 at about £55.
So the Toiteach A Dhà is a good smoky malt at a fair price. It beats the Ardbeg by four points for £3 more, the Port Charlotte by a point for £12 less, and the Caol Ila by eight points for £7 less. The unpeated twelve is the better bottle, and this is the one to buy when you want smoke.
A distillery known for leaving the peat out has to make some decisions when it puts the peat back in. Bunnahabhain’s answer is to keep the smoke moderate and let the sherry and the nuts stay in the picture. The result is a whisky that feels like Bunnahabhain with a fire lit in the corner.
That restraint is the charm. Many peated whiskies are loud, and this one is soft-spoken, and it does not feel like a gimmick. It feels like the distillery showing that it can do smoke as well as it does everything else.
Four more bottles, from the better buys to the other peated names.
The unpeated twelve-year-old, four points higher for £5 less.
A bold, complex Islay malt that scores four points lower for £3 less.
A big, creamy, heavily peated Islay malt that scores a point lower for £12 more.
A smooth, oily Islay malt that scores eight points lower for £7 more.
Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà is smoky, nutty, sherried and soft, a peated Islay malt with good manners. It is a good bottle at a fair price, and the unpeated twelve is the better buy.
Caskable score: 76 out of 100.
Gentle peat smoke, dried fruit, toffee and a trace of salt
Smoky and nutty, with sherry, pepper and a creamy middle
Long and warm, with smoke, oak and a faint sweetness
A smoky, sherried, surprisingly gentle peated malt from the island's softest distillery.
Thomas Grønvold is the founder of Caskable and a whisky enthusiast who believes the best way to learn about whisky is simply to drink it, compare it, and stay curious. From supermarket favourites to bottles from distilleries around the world, he writes about what he actually tastes and experiences, without pretending you need to be an expert to enjoy a good dram.
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