
March 16, 2016

The Benriach works, part two

We’ll go wild today. No order, no logic, no ranking, only Benriachs as they come…

Benriach 18 yo 1996/2014 (54.4%, OB, for Asia Palate Association, PX Sherry Puncheon, cask #4521, 717 bottles)

Picture indicative. One of these finishings they do so well at Benriach/Glendronach, although I usually like their olorosos better. This one did wonders at the MM Awards last year. Colour: dark amber. Nose: cigars and peonies, then blood oranges and earth. It’s not too raisiny, great news. Notes of very old Port, and Banyuls. That’s the PX speaking out. With water: wonderful earth, damp old barrels forgotten in a corner, soy sauce, lovage, ‘wild’ cigars… This is perfect. Mouth (neat): very rich, thick, sweet, right between pure PX and malt whisky. Plenty of liqueur-filled milk chocolate, raisins, Sauternes, then roasted nuts of various sorts and just a touch of bitter orange and green tobacco. Very sweet, but very excellent. With water: hurray, the herbs come out. Grapefruit skin, grass, white currants, bitter oranges… There’s a lovely sour bitterness as well. Finish: long, with more ‘green’ oak. That really gives it a grassy sour bitterness, but I’m not against this style. Comments: I always trust my compadres. They were right, and so were our Taiwanese friends. SGP:661 - 90 points.

Benriach 20 yo 1994/2014 (54.7%, OB, for Aroma TW, Oloroso Sherry Butt, cask #808, 678 bottles)

Taiwan again. A good sign! Colour: dark amber. Nose: a grassy, walnutty spirit with some earthy smoke. Nothing could go wrong and indeed, nothing goes wrong. Nutshell, some great old pu-erh from one of the best wild trees from the best mountain. With water: perfect. Leather and cigars. Right, some Partagas forgotten in the pocket of an old flying jacket. Mouth (neat): it’s extreme, and will probably not be to everyone’s liking – imagine someone that’s used to the ueberfruity Benriachs buying this without noticing the unusual pedigree. A very herbal smokiness, bags and bags of fresh walnuts, litres of walnut stain, and ‘sucking a cigar’. Really very extreme, with sides that remind me of the first Uigeadails. With water: some kind of super-aged Campari? The path was narrow, but it succeeded. Finish: long, very dry, cigary, leathery, gingery, smoky… And there’s some juniper too. Comments: a very impressive concoction fro thrill-seekers only. Perhaps. SGP:466 - 91 points.

Benriach 28 yo 1984/2013 (50.2%, OB, for Independent Spirit, PX sherry barrel, cask #1050, 261 bottles)

A PX barrel, that’s funny. Colour: dark amber. Nose: my beloved chestnut honey! Can you smoke chestnut honey and add some apple peelings and fresh walnuts? You’d get this – if you can. With water: love this. Cigars, old attic, old clothes, wax polish, castor oil… It’s definitely ‘antique’. Mouth (neat): more marmalady raisins and some cigars, plus redcurrant jam and quite some oak. Kumquats. With water: less a fan. It got a little too leafy for me – and I love leafy whiskies. Finish: quite long, with oranges, cigars, and a touch of rubber. Comments: it’s the milder peatiness that makes it a little hesitant at times. In short, there’s either too much, or not enough peat, that’s my feeling. Now, it remains a great whisky, don’t get me wrong! But I had the same feelings about the official sister cask in ‘batch 10’. SGP:464 - 85 points.

Benriach 24 yo 1985/2009 (50.6%, Signatory for Vinothek St.Stephan, cask #5500, bourbon, 218 bottles) No picture available, I’m afraid. It was bottled for a Viennese shop (been there once, not the most welcoming shop in the world, I’d say). Colour: gold. Nose: pure vanilla-ed fruity goodness. The opposite of all the others, a light, elegant, subtle fruity whisky, with some barley syrup, stewed apples, acacia honey, custard… With water: pure vanilla fudge. Great band by the way. Mouth: you’re drinking honeyed apple juice while crunching fudge. There are tropical fruits as well, but less than in earlier bottlings. Much less… With water: a fruit salad with some caramel and vanilla. Finish: quite long and a tad leafier, all for the better. Comments: you cannot be against these whiskies. Total smooth fruity Benriachness. SGP:651 - 87 points.

Benriach-Glenlivet 19 yo 1996/2015 (47.1%, Cadenhead, Small Batch)

Our friends in Campbeltown keep using the suffix ‘–Glenlivet’. One day, they’ll issue an Ardbeg-Glenlivet ;-). And that won’t be a blended malt… Colour: pale gold. Nose: the style of the 1985. Kellogg’s best, custard, barley syrup, apple pie, honey… I cannot imagine anyone having something bad to say about this style. Mouth: ah, some citrus. And apples, grapes, light honey, green bananas (the small ones they have in Cuba), limoncello… All that on a slightly grassy base. A touch of white chocolate, perhaps. Finish: medium, rather light, with more light honey and apple juice. A delicate maltiness. The aftertaste is a little bitter. Comments: typical well-aged fruity and light Benriach ex-good American wood. There might not be a lot happening (it’s not the US elections, is it), but there isn’t anything to complain about. Does the job. SGP:651 - 85 points.

A last one for the road…

Benriach 25 yo 1990/2015 (50.8%, Sansibar for S Spirit Shop, 239 bottles)

Well, they may be having a strange idea of how a Scottish clansman does look like at Sansibar, but they sure know how to select whisky ;-). On the label, a Scot eating a deep-fried Mars bar. Colour: straw. Nose: there, there’s this freshness that wasn’t quite in the 1996. Around pollen and Alsatian Pinot Gris (what we used to call Tokay d’Alsace before the E.U.) Apple peelings, walnuts, broken branches, pbarley… With water: some gueuze, perhaps? Some artisan cider for sure. Mouth (neat): rather eau-de-vie-ish, with Williams pears and then plums and kirsch, with a wee meaty side. Ham in the still? With water: loses coherence. Sweet beer. Finish: medium, fruity and slightly yeasty. Like the honey in the aftertaste. Comments: one day, someone will have to tell us how and why Benriach lost its tropical side around 1980-1985. No more mangos, doesn’t that sound like the title of a Japanese avant-garde movie? SGP:551 - 83 points.

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