Scrolling through the songs on the car stereo one morning, I came across what some may refer to as an “oldie but goodie.” I turned it up a bit and told the kids that the particular song that was playing was popular while I was in High School. We didn’t listen to all of it because we were coming to our destination, but apparently, we had listened long enough.

Later that day on the way home, Evelyn, my three year old, she called out from the back, “Play the Tintobell song, Daddy!”

“I don’t think I have any Tinkerbell songs in the car, honey.”

“Yes you do.”

“No, honey, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. Play the Tintobell song. We wistened to it.” And then she started to sing what she remembered, “Tintobell’s in the paradise city where the gwass is gween and the nose is runny. O wone you pwease take me ho-ome, yeah.”

I nearly drove the car into the ditch. Evelyn, of course, wasn’t fazed by this.

“Play the song, Daddy,” she asked again.

For those of you who know the song by Guns N Roses, the lyrics are: “Take me down to the Paradise City where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Oh, won’t you please take me home.” They have nothing to do with Tinkerbell nor anyone suffering from allergies amidst the verdant pastures of a city named “Paradise.”

Somehow, in my mind, this sparked a review of the Bunnahabhain 12 year old edition. Strange, you say? Well, then, how do you pronounce the name of this whisky? I venture to say that Evelyn’s lyrical accuracy would be, by far, much closer than any of your deciphering attempts.

So, how do you pronounce it? Maybe it’s “bunn-uh-hah-bain”? Nope. Maybe it’s “bunn-ah-hay-bin”? Missed again. The Scots pronounce this whisky “Ben-arvin.” Yep, you weren’t even close. The word itself means “mouth of the river.” I’m just wondering if this particular word is hidden in a mystical song somewhere and only Evelyn, as a lover of Tinkerbell, can hear and pronounce it. But anyway…

The whisky itself is not bad. The nose is surprisingly sweet and quite inviting. The palate is the same, offering an intriguingly gentle fruitiness, perhaps peaches soaked in distilled water and drained to thin the sugar content. With that in mind, you may notice that the color of the whisky is extremely light, with very little amber. The finish is swift but pleasantly memorable. It is quite easy to have one and then almost immediately reach to pour another.

The Bunnahabhain is relatively easy to find in most liquor stores, but I would suggest applying some “Evelyn-speak” when asking for it. In other words, say something like, “I’ll take the Bunn-uh-habain 12 year old, please.” Say it this way because I can pretty much guarantee that if you call it “Benarvin,” the college kid behind the counter will search like he’s trying to find Neverland and you’ll be there for a while.