Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old 70cl bottle, 2004 Tokaji cask finish, peated Islay single malt 2026

Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old: peated 2004 spirit meets Hungarian Tokaji, and only 588 bottles exist

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Four years ago, Bunnahabhain took a parcel of its 2004 peated spirit, gave it a year in Hungarian Tokaji casks and sold it at Fèis Ìle. Now the same pairing is back, with five more years in wood. The Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old 2004 Tokaji Cask Finish landed at UK retailers on 2 November 2026: 588 bottles, 49.8% ABV, and a price of around £275.

In short: Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old is a limited peated single malt from Bunnahabhain distillery on Islay. It was distilled in 2004, matured for 22 years and finished in casks that previously held Tokaji, Hungary’s famous sweet white wine, before bottling in 2026. It is bottled at 49.8% ABV in 70cl, limited to 588 bottles.

Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old at a glance

  • Distillery: Bunnahabhain, Islay, Scotland
  • Style: Peated single malt Scotch whisky (Mòine)
  • Age: 22 years old
  • Distilled / bottled: 2004 / 2026
  • Cask: Tokaji wine cask finish (single cask per two retailers, see below)
  • ABV: 49.8%
  • Size: 70cl
  • Outturn: 588 bottles
  • Price: £274.95

What is Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old?

Mòine (pronounced roughly “MOY-nyuh”) is Scottish Gaelic for peat. It is also the name Bunnahabhain gives to its smoky spirit, which is something of a side project at a distillery best known for unpeated whisky.

This release takes Mòine spirit distilled in 2004 and finishes it in casks that previously held Tokaji. Retailers describe the result as a balance of rich sweetness, elegant smoke and a coastal edge, which is exactly the tension you would expect from sweet wine meeting Islay peat.

At 22 years old, it is one of the oldest Mòine bottlings to reach general retail. Most peated Bunnahabhain releases have arrived in their teens, often as festival or distillery exclusives.

The Tokaji cask: why Hungarian sweet wine suits peat

Tokaji comes from the Tokaj wine region in north-east Hungary. Its most famous wines are made from grapes affected by noble rot, the same fungus behind Sauternes, which concentrates sugar and acidity. The casks that held them tend to pass on honeyed fruit, apricot and a bright, almost citrus lift.

That acidity is the interesting part. Sweet wine casks can make peated whisky heavy, but Tokaji’s freshness has a track record of keeping things lively. Bunnahabhain has used it on Mòine before, with good results, which brings us to the obvious comparison.

How it compares with the Fèis Ìle 2022 Mòine Tokaji

If the name sounds familiar, it should. For Fèis Ìle 2022, Islay’s annual festival of music and malt, Bunnahabhain released a Mòine Tokaji Cask Finish from the same 2004 vintage.

That bottle was distilled on 2 February 2004, matured for over a decade in refill casks, finished for just over a year in Tokaji casks and bottled on 24 January 2022 at around 17 years old. It came in at 52.2% ABV, with 1,693 bottles, and sold for £199 at the distillery. The official notes mentioned white chocolate, floral fruit, citrus and gentle wood.

Fèis Ìle 2022 Mòine TokajiMòine 22 Year Old Tokaji
Distilled2 February 20042004
Bottled24 January 20222026
Age~17 years22 years
ABV52.2%49.8%
Bottles1,693588
Launch price£199~£275
Where soldDistillery shop, Fèis ÌleUK specialist retailers

The new release has five more years in oak, a lower strength and roughly a third of the outturn. Whether it comes from the same parcel of casks is not stated, so treat it as a sibling rather than an older version of the same whisky.

What does it taste like?

Bunnahabhain has not yet published official tasting notes for the 22 Year Old, and we have not tasted it. What we have is the retailers’ description of its character, alongside the official notes for its 2022 sibling for reference.

Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old: retailer description

Character: rich sweetness, elegant smoke, maritime depth, coastal refinement

For reference, Fèis Ìle 2022 Mòine Tokaji (official notes): white chocolate, floral fruit, citrus, gentle woodiness

ABV:49.8% | Cask type: Tokaji wine cask finish | Price: £274.95

The lower strength is worth noting. At 49.8%, after 22 years, this is very likely close to natural cask strength rather than a reduced bottling, which suggests the spirit has had a long, slow evaporation in the warehouse.

Who is Bunnahabhain?

Bunnahabhain sits on the north-east coast of Islay, at the end of a single-track road, looking across the Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura. The distillery was founded in 1881 and today belongs to Distell International.

Islay is synonymous with peat smoke, but Bunnahabhain built its reputation on the opposite. Its water is piped from springs so it avoids running through peat, and its tall stills produce a lighter, fruitier spirit. The core range, led by the 12 Year Old at 46.3% ABV, is unpeated and often sherry-influenced.

For a few weeks each year, though, the distillery switches to heavily peated malt and makes Mòine. That spirit has become the playground for some of Bunnahabhain’s most adventurous cask work: port pipes, Sauternes, Madeira, Bordeaux, rum and brandy casks have all appeared on Mòine bottlings over the past decade.

The 2004 vintage in particular has been a long-running thread. It has appeared as a port pipe finish for Fèis Ìle 2017, a Sauternes finish distillery exclusive in 2021, the Tokaji release in 2022 and a Madeira cask finish for Fèis Ìle 2024. In October 2026, German importer Sprithöker also launched its own 22 year old 2004 Mòine with a first-fill PX finish. The 2004 stocks are clearly reaching a mature, and increasingly rare, stage.

Price and availability

Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old is listed at £274.95 by Master of Malt both for 70cl. It is also stocked by Hard To Find Whisky.

At the time of writing, the release is sold through UK specialist retailers, and we have not seen it in the distillery’s own online shop. International buyers should factor in local duty and shipping on top of the UK price.

With 588 bottles split across several retailers, and some listings already showing single-digit stock, this is not one to think about for long if you want it.

Is it worth £275?

We have not tasted this one, so we will not score it. But the value picture is reasonably clear.

For context, the Fèis Ìle 2022 Tokaji sibling launched at £199 at around 17 years old, and Bunnahabhain’s 1997 Mòine 22 Year Old PX Finish sits at around £350 at Royal Mile Whiskies. A 22-year-old, near cask strength, officially bottled peated Islay malt with an outturn under 600 bottles at £275 is a fair price by the standards of today’s market for limited Islay releases.

This is for the collector who has followed the 2004 Mòine releases, and for the peat drinker who prefers smoke wrapped in fruit and sweetness rather than iodine and tar. If you loved the 2022 Tokaji, this is the natural next step. If you want a big, medicinal Islay peat bomb, Bunnahabhain’s Mòine style is a different, gentler kind of smoke.

This will be a bottle we will go after to try. That sounds like the perfect Bunnahabhain for us.

FAQ

What is Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old? Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old is a limited peated single malt from Bunnahabhain distillery on Islay. It was distilled in 2004, aged for 22 years and given a Tokaji wine cask finish before bottling in 2026 at 49.8% ABV. Retailers list an outturn of 588 bottles in 70cl.

How much does Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old cost? UK retailers list Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old at £274.95 (Master of Malt) and £274.99 (The Spirits Embassy) for a 70cl bottle. No official euro or dollar RRP has been published so far. International buyers should expect local duty and shipping costs on top of the UK price.

Where can I buy Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old? At launch, the bottle is listed by UK specialists Master of Malt, The Spirits Embassy and Hard To Find Whisky. The Spirits Embassy states it ships worldwide, including to the USA, subject to its terms. With only 588 bottles, availability is likely to be short-lived.

What cask is used for Bunnahabhain Mòine 22 Year Old? The peated spirit was distilled in 2004 and finished in casks that previously held Tokaji, the sweet white wine from Hungary’s Tokaj region. Retailer listings differ on detail: The Spirits Embassy and Hard To Find Whisky describe it as a single cask, while Master of Malt refers to Tokaji casks in the plural.

Is this the same whisky as the Fèis Ìle 2022 Mòine Tokaji? No. The Fèis Ìle 2022 Mòine Tokaji Cask Finish was also distilled in 2004, but it was bottled in January 2022 at around 17 years old, at 52.2% ABV, in an edition of 1,693 bottles. The new release is 22 years old, 49.8% ABV and limited to 588 bottles.

What does Mòine mean, and is Bunnahabhain peated? Mòine is Scottish Gaelic for peat, and it is the name Bunnahabhain gives its peated single malts. The distillery’s house style is unpeated, with spring water piped so it avoids running through peat, but for a few weeks each year it distils heavily peated spirit for releases like this one.

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