North Star Spirits Bunnahabhain 11yo Series 025 & North Star Spirits Bunnahabhain 10yo Series 025

North Star Spirits Bunnahabhain 11yo

Region: Islay

ABV: 55.7%

Price: £121.00

This peated Bunnahabhain was distilled in October 2013 and matured for 11 years in a refill hogshead before being bottled in February 2025. A total of 290 bottles were released.

Nose

We’re transported to an Islay beach barbecue to start—brine, tinned tuna, dried earth, tar, smoked kippers, and a touch of barbecue sauce. As it opens up, sweeter notes begin to emerge: smoked almonds, caramel, vanilla extract, dry wood, and a hint of banana. The alcohol spice tickles our nose slightly, but it’s far from off putting.

Palate

The palate mirrors the nose—tar, dried earth, and BBQ smoke lead the way, followed by just enough sweetness in the form of lemonade and chocolate to keep things in check. There’s a slight bitterness that creeps in on the finish, accompanied by gingerbread-like spice. Still, there’s plenty of sweetness and peat hanging around on the finish. Mouthfeel is solid and, in our opinion, a step up from the unpeated 10-year-old we’re also reviewing today.

Nose (with water)

Water dims the smoke slightly and brings forward a more savoury aroma—bread, pastries, butter, peanuts, and croissants. Underneath all of that, we’re picking up citrus, burnt s’mores, and icing sugar. We’re a little surprised by just how much water has changed the nose.

Palate (with water)

On the palate dilution brings out more pronounced sweetness without dimming the smoke. The mouthfeel remains solid, and the finish—while a touch spicier—has lost the slight bitterness we noted earlier. Sitting with it a bit longer, we’re starting to get faint Ardbeg vibes, which we didn’t expect but aren’t upset about.

Conclusion

This has a good balance between sweetness and peat straight out the bottle, but some may want a touch more sweetness from the start, and that’s easily sorted with a splash of water. A really enjoyable peated Bunnahabhain, and another great pick by North Star.

Score: 8/10

Value

A great dram, but the price does sting—we’re guessing the cask didn’t come cheap.

North Star Spirits Bunnahabhain 10yo

Region: Islay

ABV: 55.9%

Price: £117.00

This unpeated Bunnahabhain was distilled in June 2014 and matured for 10 years in a refill hogshead before being bottled in 2025. A total of 315 bottles were released.

Nose

Very savoury on the nose, think white crusty rolls, pistachios, and a touch of yeast. There’s very little alcohol spice given the ABV, just a faint hint of black pepper. The sweeter notes take a bit of time to emerge, eventually revealing icing sugar, fresh apple, and some citrus—lemon drizzle cake comes to mind. After a while we started to get Sauvignon Blanc note appearing.

Palate

The savoury notes continues on the palate: pistachios, yeast, and brown bread lead the way. The sweetness starts to build on the mid-palate with notes of simple syrup, white grapes, dark chocolate, and apple juice. Unfortunately, a fairly aggressive raw ginger spice takes over on the medium length finish, alongside some of those lingering sweet notes. Mouthfeel is good, but the spice does become a bit distracting. We’re hoping water might help tame it.

Nose (with water)

Water brings out some toast, milk chocolate, a touch of warehouse funk, and orange peel. Beyond that, it remains quite similar to the undiluted nose—still savoury, with the pepper spice becoming more noticeable.

Palate (with water)

The citrus notes come forward a bit more with water, and there’s an added hint of melon and chocolate orange. However, the spice is still very present and hasn’t softened much. The mouthfeel is unchanged, and the finish remains medium in length—again, just a touch too spicy for our liking.

Conclusion

A solid dram with some enjoyable savoury and sweet notes, but the spice on the finish does drag it down a point for us. Perhaps a few more years in cask would have helped. Not a bad release, but one that left us wanting a little more from it.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

Like today’s other review, this feels a bit on the pricey side—surprising, given that North Star releases are usually good value.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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