September 11, 2014

Four Benrinnes, two styles

Benrinnes is one of these malts that undergo a partial – and mindboggling - third distillation, like Springbank or Mortlach. I’ve never found Benrinnes to be particularly easy, but still, let’s have an old aperitif…

Benrinnes 1968 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, Old Map label, +/-1985)

An earlier bottling, bearing the famous ‘old brown’ or ‘old banner’ label, was rather to my liking (WF 85). Colour: gold. Nose: one of these old malts that display big notes of roasted chestnuts and other nuts, as well as touches of old rancio and honey-coated baked fruits. A few walnuts as well, raisins, a little marmalade, then touches of iron that may come from bottle ageing. Almost forgot to mention Marmite. Ah, Marmite! I find this nose rather lovely. Mouth: all in keeping with the nose, with this yeasty maltiness covered with glazed chestnuts at first sips, but it tends to become a little weaker and disjointed. You never know with low strength malts in old bottles! Oranges, malt, cardboard. Drinkable, but forgettable and a little flattish flavour-wise. Finish: a little short, with some burnt oak and more cardboard. Comments: it all happened in the lovely nose. SGP:351 - 78 points.

Benrinnes 28 yo 1984/2013 (49.8%, Hunter Laing, Old and Rare, refill butt, 133 bottles)

Very, very ‘refill’ according to the colour. Colour: white wine. Nose: amazingly bready, this could have been distilled last year! I even find whiffs of rye. Also porridge, old papers, grass and, indeed, that faint mineral sulphur that probably comes from the spirit, not from the cask. Lager beer, baker’s yeast… Really, this smells extremely young, even if I do enjoy these very ‘natural’ noses that are very close to the raw ingredients. Mouth: same feeling, this is very young, fresh, full of grains, oranges, pears, leaven, beer, ginger… Tastes like some newish craft whisky, minus the heavy wood. As naked as old whisky can get. No traces of sherry, or maybe only the tiniest sultana, somewhere… Finish: quite long, spicy, a little bittersweet and even a little sour, but in a rather good way. Comments: interesting! An almost immature oldie, this one reminds of some friends of mine ;-). SGP:451 - 82 points.

Benrinnes 14 yo 1998/2013 (54.6%, Exclusive Malts for Whisky.com Taiwan, first fill sherry, 689 bottles)

This one could be a sherry monster. Colour: amber. Nose: wee whiffs of good sulphur precede a whole bag of dried fruits, such as the obligatory raisins, figs, pears, apricots… I also find a little cedar wood, some pipe tobacco and quite some marmalade. Classic fruity sherry, all good. With water: a touch of wet raw wool. Like that. Mouth (neat): excellent! Rich and creamy, fruity and spicy, with many dried fruit and a lot of oranges. Love the both fresh and luscious side, it’s not that common in very sherried whiskies. With water: yes, very excellent. It’s some kind of spicy fruit sauce and I could well see it poured over some chicken or prawns. Finish: long, very rich and very clean at the same time. Tinned pineapples in the aftertaste. Comments: it happens even on the palate, for once. And that was very lovely indeed. Almost perfect, in fact. SGP:651 - 89 points.

Now that naked Benrinnes by one of the Laing brothers was really intriguing, let’s try to find another one…

Benrinnes 21 yo 1979/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, 234 bottles)

Colour: white wine again. Nose: it’s younger than the 1984, but it’s certainly more mature, without much bread/yeast/grain and with many more fruits, including some very zesty tangerines and blood oranges. I find touches of mineral sulphur again (not burnt, no eggs, no cabbage, no matches…), then drops of Gueuze, sweet apples, plums and just a little barley sugar. Nice, clean, natural and mature. Mouth: same, more or less, although it got a little grassy and bitter this time. Not its best side, I’d say, loses points now. The grains are more obvious as well, porridge, oatcakes, bread… And always this bitterness (walnut skin.) Too bad. Finish: of medium length, grassy and grainy. Apples. Comments: I had deep hopes but the palate was so-so, after the very lovely nose. In fact, I think I liked the 1984 a little better altogether. SGP:551 - 81 points.

Check the index of all Benrinnes I've tasted so far

Pete McPeat and Jack Washback