At the close of 2024, Bimber introduced its inaugural age-statement expression, not once but twice. The first release featured an 8-year-old single cask matured in an ex-bourbon cask. For this selection, Bimber took an innovative approach by inviting approximately 20 fortunate tasters from their Klub members to blindly choose their favourite cask from three samples. I was lucky enough to be one of these tasters and, by sheer chance, I had a sample of the very cask the tasting panel selected – one of their oldest casks – from a distillery visit in April 2022.
Following the initial 8-year-old single cask, Bimber unveiled Harmony of Eight, a skilful vatting of several casks designed to produce a more substantial 8-year-old release, which we will also be exploring.
While the first four reviews below may not carry the same weight, as they pertain to unfinished and unreleased whiskies, they offer a fascinating insight into the evolution of these spirits, particularly cask 11. So, let’s delve into the review of this Bimber 8-year-old single cask (and more…) and the Harmony of Eight.
Bimber First 8-year-old Selection Sample #1 Review
Everything I know about this whisky is that it comes from an ex-bourbon single cask (I believe I found that out after the blind tasting), distilled in 2016 and aged for 8 years before they took this cask sample. I don’t have any other details about the cask number or ABV, so I’ll provide an estimate for the ABV in the comments.
Colour:
Amber
Nose:
Neat: Very fruity initially, with yellow fruits, a hint of wood, orange, dusty shelves and a touch of ginger, this nose is quite mellow.
With water: After reduction, the nose is dustier, with light dunnage notes and fresh Paris mushrooms.
Palate:
Neat: Orange and other fruits carried through. A nice, warm hit of spices, not aggressive, with pepper and ginger, both sliced and candied. The wood is present, as Bimber tends to be quite extractive, but not overly so. Notes of icing sugar and a bit of wood char. Revisiting, the fruits stand out, a mix of bright yellow fruits and citrus. After some time, a light strawberry tartness also appears.
With water: With a few drops of water, the mouthfeel is creamier, and the palate has a bit more tartness and cask spices.
Finish:
Wood and spices linger, with orange and grapefruit peel, orange and lemon juice.
Comments:
I enjoyed this cask sample for its citrusy and fruity notes, but it was slightly too oaky for my taste. While tasting it blind, I estimated the ABV to be around 52–55%. Ultimately, they did not select this cask for the first ever age-stated Bimber single malt release.
Rating (non-final product): 7/10
Bimber First 8-year-old Selection Sample #2 Review
As for sample 1, I did not have any information beforehand except that it was 8 years old. I learnt afterwards it was also an ex-bourbon cask.
Colour:
Burnished.
Nose:
Neat: Initially a bit shy, with dusty books, hints of yellow fruits, bananas, lemon meringue pie meringue, and Parma violets. Over time, its intensity increases, revealing notes of plum and tangerines.
With water: The nose is more expressive, with fruits shining through, including durian, dragon fruit, and grapefruit, whilst the banana note disappears. Hints of barley husk, grist, and something slightly lactic emerge.
Palate:
Neat: Banana, tropical fruits, citrus fruits, grapefruit, ginger, a pinch of cracked black pepper, and soft oak tannins, all perfectly balanced. Notes of fruit salad candy, lemon juice, toasted wood, and a drop of espresso.
With water: The palate gets sweeter with even more fruits, and it feels the alcohol is slightly stronger when reduced with a few drops. A bit more pepper, but still very balanced. Creamier mouthfeel once again. Some milk or slightly dark chocolate.
Finish:
The fruits linger, leaving a nice, soft warmth in the throat.
Comments:
I preferred this cask sample, as it was my favourite of the three by a narrow margin. The nose could have been more expressive when neat, but the palate was excellent. With water, it improved everything and allowed this whisky to reach an 8.5. I estimated the ABV to be between 54% and 56%. This was my favourite cask out of the three, but unfortunately, they did not choose it either.
Rating (non-final product): 8.5/10
Bimber First 8-year-old Selection Sample #3 Review
Third sample, and same (lack of) details: the whisky being 8 years old was all I knew at the moment of tasting, and I learnt afterwards it was also an ex-bourbon cask, cask #11, distilled in 2016.
Colour:
Burnished
Nose:
Neat: The fruits are mostly dried this time, with dried apricot, prunes, apricot jam, and a light, fresh herbaceous note of eucalyptus. Hints of pencil shavings and nutmeg are also present.
With water: Aromas of orange juice from a glass bottle (it does smell different) and dry hay emerge.
Palate:
Neat: This sample exhibits a slightly oakier profile than the first two, with notes of pine resin, grapefruit, lime, more pepper, and a touch of Tabasco sauce. Additionally, there are flavours of almonds, hazelnuts, crème caramel, and vanilla pods.
With water: The mouthfeel becomes creamier, with notes of orange, apricot jam with a touch of rhubarb, and milk chocolate.
Finish:
The finish is long, with chocolate, pepper, a slight drying sensation and French toast.
Comments:
I found sample #3 to have a more autumnal character than sample #2. I preferred dram 2 for its tropical profile, but dram 3 was also quite enjoyable. Dram 1, however, fell slightly short compared to drams 2 and 3. I estimated the ABV to be 56% for this third sample. This cask sample, drawn from cask #11, was indeed the one the tasting panel selected, and it became the first age-stated Bimber single malt. I will review the official and final release below, but let’s add another cask sample before, from that very cask.
Rating: 8/10
Bimber 2016 Single Cask #11 Cask Sample (circa April 2023) Review
Before reviewing the final and official release, let’s examine a cask sample I obtained from that very cask during a visit to Bimber Distillery in April 2022. While in London for a few days, I visited Bimber, particularly because my friend Matt McKay, then Director of Communications and Whisky Creation at Bimber and Dunphail, hosted the tour. Although not part of the official tasting, I managed to try and bring back a few centilitres of cask #11, one of their oldest maturing casks. I had no idea I would encounter it several times in the coming years!
Colour:
Russet (a shade darker than the final release!)
Nose:
Neat: I found vanilla, honey, pastries with brown sugar, clementines, peach-flavoured Petit-suisse, and orange blossom water, but the nose seemed a bit closed. After some time, pastry notes dominated.
With water: After reduction, the nose featured hints of oak, candies, and caramels.
Palate:
Neat: The palate has tropical fruits, primarily passion fruit, but also pineapple. Juicy nectarines and oranges, a few drops of lemon, milk chocolate, butterscotch, fudge, and dark honey came through.
With water: The palate now has confectioneries (berlingots, which are some boiled sweets) with some icing sugar, and some orange flavoured boiled sweets as well.
Finish:
Chocolate and fudge lingered while the fruits quickly disappeared. The finish seemed a bit short.
Comments:
I found this whisky already superb when it was nearly six years old. I should have tried to negotiate a bottle of it at the time! As you will read below, the final product has a lighter colour than my sample, despite being two years older. This darker colour in my sample, compared to the official and younger release, might be due to changes over time in my sample bottle. Given that I had about 1.5 cl left in a 3cl sample bottle, and my whisky room lacks temperature control, the fluctuations in temperature between summer and winter, along with the time spent in the glass for a half-filled sample, might explain the change in colour over time.
Rating (non-final product): 8/10
Bimber 2016 8-year-old ex-Bourbon Cask #11 (2024) Review
This time we review the final product – thank you for your patience! This first ever age-stated Bimber is an ex-bourbon single cask, distilled in 2016 and bottled in 2024. Cask number 11 yielded 268 bottles, filled at cask strength (56.8% ABV), without chill filtration or added colouring. At the time of release, they sold for £160.
Colour:
Chestnut.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is quite intense and slightly sharp, with the ABV clearly noticeable. I detected dried orchard fruits such as peach, apricot, and apples, giving it an autumnal character. There is also a fresh herbaceous note of menthol and eucalyptus, fern, and soft, warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
With water: After reduction, I found notes of pastries with crystallised sugar on top, reminiscent of a baker‘’’s palmier, along with orange blossom water.
Palate:
Neat: The oak influence is noticeable; the cask has been active. It is not so much about the classic American oak flavours like vanilla or honey, but more about the wood itself, wood spices, and pine resin. I tasted chocolate, pepper, chilli, nutmeg, hazelnuts, and crème brûlée.
With water: After reduction, flavours of range, redcurrant, rhubarb, dark chocolate and coffee appear.
Finish:
The finish is characterised by dark chocolate, lots of spices like pepper and chilli, Tabasco sauce, and a warm sensation in the throat, along with charred wood. The finish is of medium length.
Comments:
The final release has a surprisingly sharper nose than when it was younger, likely because the active cask added some sharpness and did not mellow the whisky over time. Comparing it directly with the same cask from two years earlier perfectly shows how wood and time influence whisky. On the palate, it does taste slightly older and thicker. I am torn between rating it 7.5 and 8, but I will go with 8. However, at the initial selling price of £160, I found it excessive, which is why I decided not to buy it, even though I could pre-order it as a member of the tasting panel.
Rating: 8/10
Bimber 2016 Harmony of Eight (2024) Review
The final dram for today is not a single cask, but the Bimber Harmony of Eight, an 8-year-old single malt distilled in 2016 and bottled in 2024. They matured it in ex-bourbon and ex-Pedro Ximenez casks, yielding 1090 bottles at 50% ABV, which is not cask strength. As usual with Bimber, they did not chill filter it or add colour. This release is still available for around £130/€160 a bottle.
Colour:
Deep copper.
Nose:
Neat: The nose has aromas of yellow fruits, pine resin, raspberries, cherries, a touch of cask spices, orange blossom water, and pastries that seem to have become a signature of Bimber at this age. There are also notes of vanilla, heather honey, and hints of almonds.
With water: Some gummy sweets, marzipan and meringue appear.
Palate:
Neat: The mouthfeel is slightly thinner than I expected and would have liked. Perhaps they reduced it a bit too quickly. I tasted tinned fruit syrup, blackcurrant jam, honey, and vanilla. There is both sweetness, with icing sugar and sugarcane syrup, and spiciness, with pepper, chilli, and a bit of saffron.
With water: I get hints of yellow fruits like apricots and pineapple, blood oranges, milk chocolate, cinnamon, and hazelnuts.
Finish:
Some wood bitterness is lingering with dark chocolate and pepper, along with hints of honey and blackcurrant jam.
Comments:
I found this Bimber Harmony of Eight quite good, but not at the level of the 8-year-old single cask. This could be due to the reduction, or perhaps the casks did not have enough time to marry. The sweetness might also be a bit too pronounced for my taste, so if you have a sweet tooth, you might enjoy it even more than I did. Nevertheless, as I mentioned, it is still a good whisky.
Rating: 6.5/10
Samples provided by Bimber between 2022 and June 2025. I’ve reviewed quite a lot of Bimber over the years, read my reviews here!