News / A Quartet of Benriach Beauties
04/08/2013 A Quartet of Benriach Beauties
Benriach recently released Batch 10 of it's single cask whiskies and were kind enough to send me samples of four of those twelve drams which i've spent some careful time with. Firstly i will say i really enjoyed all of them, there are a couple which are my favourites, mainly the 1984 Peated and the 1994 Virgin oak but i'd happily have any of these bottles in my whisky collection and i'm currently discussing with SWMBO as to which ones i'll be picking up shortly.
They are in very limited numbers as each comes from a single cask so if you are interested pop by your local specialist asap and grab one while you can.
Benriach 1984 Cask #1051 Peated Pedro Ximenez Finish
A peated Benriach finished in a Pedro Ximinez cask, even before i opened this my mouth was watering, it totally sounds like a cracker of a dram and it definitely does not disappoint, amazingly smoky and fruity this would see you through any winter night.
Pick One up From The Whisky Exchange before they sell out
| Bottle Name | Benriach 1984 Cask #1051 Peated Pedro Ximenez Finish |
| Bottler | Benriach |
| Distiller | Benriach |
| Age* | 1984 Vintage |
| ABV | 49.90% |
| Nose | initially a sweet peat smoke note, the fact that there's the sweet fruit salad notes are there along with the smoke reminds me Ardbeg Uigeadail but the smoke isnt as pungent and the sweetness is much more fruity, the gym rubber note from some of the other PX Benriachs is there but very very light and the fruit and smoke mix beautifully. |
| Taste | smoke, sweet cigar smoke and ash with a touch of gym rubber and huge blast of dried fruit and fresh fruit salad |
| Finish | this has a gentle grated ginger kick with more fresh fruit |
Benriach 1994 Cask #4385 Virgin American Oak FinishBenriach join a growing club of other distillers who have been using Virgin American oak to mature or finish their whisky, it really does bring out the vanilla notes in the whiskies and adds something i really enjoy.
Pick One up From The Whisky Exchange before they sell out
| Bottle Name | Benriach 1994 Cask #4385 Virgin American Oak Finish |
| Bottler | Benriach |
| Distiller | Benriach |
| Age* | 1994 Vintage |
| ABV | 55.50% |
| Nose | Huge vanilla and creme brule influence on this, theres a fantastic underlying fresh fruit salad freshness too with melon and mango in there, the main notes are definitely vanilla though and i get a big hit of almonds and marzipan with cherry bakewells. |
| Taste | marzipan and sugar icing with melon and mango puree and vanilla custard |
| Finish | icing sugar sweet with marzipan and melon |
Benriach 1992 Cask #986 Pedro Ximenez FinishAt approximately 21 years old this has become very refined in the glass with oodles of sweetness and fresh fruit salad, theres a real distillery character of fresh fruit and marzipan that i'm picking up throughout these drams.
Pick One up From The Whisky Exchange before they sell out
| Bottle Name | Benriach 1992 Cask #986 Pedro Ximenez Finish |
| Bottler | Benriach |
| Distiller | Benriach |
| Age* | 1992 Vintage |
| ABV | 53.30% |
| Nose | initially a very subtle nose that grows in the glass and becomes more sweet, theres the rubber soled gym shoes note that i quite like in these PX expressions, more of the fresh fruit tropical salad that i get with Benriach expressions and a touch of marzipan. |
| Taste | Loads of fresh fruit and touches of marzipan with a touch of cough medicine and vanilla cream. |
| Finish | quite a lot of mixed fruit and nuts, marzipan and hints of cinnamon |
Benriach 1998 Cask # 7633 Pedro Ximenez FinishThis is the youngest of the 4 drams from Batch 10 that i sampled, at approx 15 years, but that is certainly not a bad thing, i really enjoyed this dram especially the fruity underlying notes.This one is a real odd-ball though as it is also "triple distilled" something that does not normally happen at Benriach, giving the whisky a smoothness that realy makes it sing. I've been a bit Benriach fan for a while now and the Pedro Ximenez finishes really do add some lovely character to their whisky
Pick One up From Master of Malt before they sell out
| Bottle Name | Benriach 1998 Cask # 7633 Pedro Ximenez Finish |
| Bottler | Benriach |
| Distiller | Benriach |
| Age* | 1998 Vintage |
| ABV | 56.1% |
| Nose | Sweet dried fruits with mixed nuts, gentle hints of rubber school gym shoes but not in a bad way, not that burnt rubber nasty smell more a gentle new rubber smell, theres a lovely sweetness underlying it with a fresh fruit salad of melon, kiwi and mango, the nose on this really works for me. |
| Taste | sweet dried fruits, with a kick of acetone, theres a touch of gym shoe rubber and a splattering of fresh fruit salad again with melon, kiwi and mango |
| Finish | touches of marachino cherry and a kick of spice and a hint of crushed almonds |
