BUNNAHABHAIN MOINE 2011 Over 10 Years ARTIST #15 Something in the Water

Created in 2011, ARTIST by La Maison du Whisky is LMDW’s flagship series dedicated to remarkable single casks selected for their expressive, terroir-driven character, paired with contemporary artworks chosen to mirror or contrast the whisky’s identity. Over the years, ARTIST has evolved into a true gallery in bottle form: an annual expression of style, ageing, culture and aesthetics.

ARTIST #15, the fifteenth edition of this emblematic range and released under the Itinéraires catalogue, is divided into two thematic chapters: Something in the Water, inspired by the magic of Islay and paying tribute to the island’s historic distilleries; and The Dark Side of the Moon, which explores the world of sherry cask maturation from Oloroso to Pedro Ximénez.

Continuing its journey along the shores of Islay, the ARTIST #15 range arrives at the mouth of the Margadale River, where Bunnahabhain (pronouned Buh-nah-hav-enn) has stood since 1881. Production began in January 1883, and over the past century, the distillery has become known for a gentler, more maritime expression of Islay. Since 2003, under Burn Stewart Distillers, Bunnahabhain has produced almost equal quantities of an unpeated single malt and a peated variant named Moine, distilled at phenol levels between 35 and 45 ppm.

Selected for the Something in the Water chapter of ARTIST #15, this Bunnahabhain Moine 2011 Over 10 Years Old offers an interpretation far removed from the distillery’s traditionally rustic, muscular peat profile. Instead, it opens into a surprisingly fruity, floral and finely textured register, where smoke becomes delicate rather than forceful, shaped by coastal freshness and a lifted aromatic style.

Both distinctly Islay and quietly unconventional, this bottling captures the chapter’s thematic essence: whiskies shaped not only by peat and salt but by the elemental clarity of Islay’s waters, revealing character with both precision and restraint.