BenRiach 26 yo 1984 (54,1%, OB, cask #7193, peated, Virgin oak finish)

Nose: is this a sherried Ardbeg? Or Karuizawa? Nice anyway, I really like the combination of sweet peat, embering fires and punchy spices. Smoked ham and sweet tobacco. Blackcurrants and dates. Pepper and nutmeg. Some cedar wood. It’s big in different directions and the balance is spot-on. Mouth: punchy, still quite smoky, spicy and sweet, only now there’s also a slightly disturbing sourish element (raspberry vinegar maybe). Dry oak as well. Growing herbal notes. Anything but subtle, even a bit over the top now. I’d suggest a few drops of water. Finish: long, spicy, drying and peaty.

I thought we had an absolute cracker based on the nose, but on the palate it gets a little out of balance. Recommended for fans of extreme whisky. Around € 125.

Score: 86/100

Asta Morris

I had an early look at this brand-new 1977 bottling as Bert asked me to write tasting notes for the tube and bottle. Here’s a more elaborate version of these notes.

BenRiach 33 yo 1977 (45,7%, OB for Asta Morris Belgium 2011, refill bourbon cask #9119, 175 btl.)

Nose: fresh spring fruits (tangerine, pear, nectarine) sprinkled with lime and orange juice. A crisp and ‘indigenous’ fruitiness rather than the warm, exotic, marmalade-type fruitiness we’ve come to expect from 1975-1976 BenRiach. This one is more subtle, more interwoven with oak. There’s also a layer of spearmint / eucalyptus notes which adds to the fresh appeal, as well as some flowery notes (orange blossom, honeysuckle) and hints of pollen. Soft ginger and vanilla notes. A true gentleman – a little reticent at first but complex and very refined. Mouth: fresh with big fruity notes (yellow plum, kumquat, pink grapefruit, peach), again slightly “green” and definitely not cloying. There’s a fine exotic fruitiness (banana, passion fruits) but it’s in the background. Almond notes. Then the spices from the oak kick in (ginger, mint). Develops on fruit tea and heather honey. Citrus zest. Very smooth. Finish: long and clean, balancing between fresh fruits and soft oak.

Not just a benchmark for the 1977 vintage, but an exquisite BenRiach in general. Interesting how its profile is yet again different from both the 1975 and 1978. Arriving in stores any day now. Around € 230.

Score: 92/100

I tasted this one at the Whisky Festival in Gent a couple of years ago and since I didn’t write down any notes at that time, I really wanted to taste it again.

BenRiach 20 yo (43%, OB 2009)

Nose: something of a potpourri: orange, pear, peach, pineapple candy, berries. Some lavender. White chocolate. Bourbon wood. Vanilla. Something dusty and farmy, but very nice. Also light peat and subtle smoke. Mouth: vanilla and honey. Malt. Tobacco. Slightly vegetal and acidic, but pleasant. Getting spicier after a while. Finish on melon and vanilla. Overall sweet but with some bitter oranges. Light smoke.

Compared to the BenRiach 16y, this one is more complex, with less caramel toffee and more fruit. More punch as well. It really stands out from the rest of the core range. It’s the most expensive but by far the best value for money. Around € 65.

Score: 87/100

BenRiach 28 yo 1976 (57,6%, OB for Craigellachie Hotel 2005, cask #8079,
144 btl.)

Nose: a sweet and surprisingly creamy 1976, with peach yoghurt and strawberries with clotted cream. Lots of banana aromas. Hints of coconut and vanilla. Some guava and melon. A very seductive fruit salad which gets more tropical by the minute. Hints of marshmallows. Soft oak and very gentle spices with a very faint earthy / mossy undertone as well. Maybe not the most complex, but warmer and more velvety than I remember other 1976’s. Mouth: plenty of oak now, with some pine resin and spices. Then it develops the creaminess again with coconut oil and vanilla. The tropical fruitiness is less impressive now and has changed into fruit tea rather than a fruit salad. Some green, leafy notes as well. Liquorice and eucalyptus. Some late toffee. Finish: stretches the wood resin a little further, with some bitterness now. Liquorice. Maybe traces of smoke?

A great nose on this BenRiach 1976 for Craigellachie Hotel, but I found it slightly disappointing on the palate because of the subdued fruits and fierce oak. Later 1976 bottlings were better in my opinion – this one doesn’t reach 90 points in my view. Slightly over-hyped (and over-paid at auctions) maybe, but still a nice classic. Long gone of course.

Score: 89/100

Eight of them were finished, two were peated. The oldest casks were classic Speyside style, like this BenRiach 1976 cask #6942. Always a highly anticipated vintage for this distillery.

BenRiach 34 yo 1976 (57,8%, OB 2011, butt #6942, 469 btl.)

This one has a more tawny colour than most 1976′s. I reckon it was a sherry cask? Nose: indeed not the classic 1976 (tropical) fruitiness. More polished oak to begin with. Cedar wood. Leather and some wax. Tobacco. Then the fruit comes out. A lot of juicy plums and raisins. Black cherries. Pastry with apricot marmalade. Whiffs of eucalyptus. A little pepper and cinnamon. Subtle roasted almonds and hazelnuts, maybe even traces of peat smoke? Very faint turpentine. It needs some time but it’s certainly high-class. Mouth: snappy, with roasted nuts again and dried fruits. Quite some spices (cinnamon and nutmeg), herbs and wood. Hints of orange marmalade and Christmas cake. Cherry brandy. Dark chocolate. Works well, juicy enough and none of the components gets too loud. Finish: drier now, balancing between dried fruits, grapefruit and spices.

This BenRiach 1976 requires a totally different point-of-view than the legendary tropical versions. Then again it’s a pretty great example of its sherry style. Around € 230 – already hard to find.

Score: 91/100

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced the BenRiach 1975 cask #7227 bottled for Asta Morris, the label of (now ex-)Malt Maniac Bert Bruyneel. One week later, this BenRiach 1978 was released. The sherry cask yielded only 79 bottles.

BenRiach 32 yo 1978 (48%, OB for Asta Morris 2011, sherry hogshead #7037, 79 btl.)

Nose: very jammy, with big apricots and thick honey. Tropical fruits as well: mango, guava, clementine. Pineapple syrup. Faint camomile tea. Less citrusy than #7227, less complex and more direct as well, but really juicy and delicious. Mouth: again quite direct, with a nice coconut / banana combination and citrus (oranges and mandarin). Some “darker” elements like natural caramel – even hints of bread crust. Strawberries and cream. Light vanilla. This one doesn’t show the 1975/76 grapefruit in the end, but stays on warm, oak-infused flavours. Finish: lengthy, still fruity and full-bodied with soft spices.

It seems most people think of the 1975 as a slightly higher class than this 1978, but personally I think the difference is not that big. Different styles – both quite excellent. Around € 210. Now sold out.

Score: 92/100

At the end of the evening, a new 35yo BenRiach 1975 was officially presented. Cask #7227 was selected by Bert Bruyneel for his new label called Asta Morris. During his latest trip to BenRiach, he nosed over 60 casks and this was ‘the one’.

Bert thinks it was a Fino sherry cask. I don’t share that opinion (not dry / spicy enough), but in any case it was not a very active cask: the influence is too subtle to pin down the cask type.

BenRiach 35 yo 1975 (51%, OB for
Asta Morris Belgium 2011, sherry hogshead #7227, 236 btl.)

Nose: the first fifteen minutes, I thought it would not be as good as the highly praised 1976 casks. It was nice and fruity but rather silent. It’s only after some time and airing that it shows its true character. Great citrus notes (pink grapefruit and tangerine), evolving to warmer, exotic fruits like pineapple, mango and strawberries. Quite some honey. Subtle oak adds some spices to the mix. Great nose which keeps evolving in the glass. Don’t be hasty. Mouth: a little sweeter than expected – honey sweetness again. Now lovely notes of fresh apricots and melon, with sweet/sour hints of passion fruit. Ripe mango. Typical BenRiach fruitiness with soft oak in the background. Finish: long and fruity, with pink grapefruit taking the lead in the fruit basket.

Everybody wondered whether this is a new classic and whether it is better than cask #3557. I didn’t have them head-to-head and I don’t think it really matters anyway. All I can say is that it’s different from the 1976’s. It takes more time to seduce you but the evolution in the glass is really a textbook example of great BenRiach. Well done Bert!

Available as of today, but probably sold out before you know it. Around € 250. There’s also a 1978 cask from Asta Morris due next week.

Score: 93/100

This BenRiach 1980 was matured in a new oak barrel. Sister casks #2534 (bottled for LMdW France) and #2535 (part of single cask batch #3) were bottled in 2006.

BenRiach 30 yo 1980 (51,2%, OB 2010,
cask #2532, Virgin American Oak, 181 btl.)

Nose: very sensual, with truckloads of vanilla and lovely hints of cotton candy. Deeply fruity as well: apricot, some banana, tangerine, strawberrries… Honey. A bit of chocolate. Invigorating spices as well, mainly pepper and cinnamon. A subtle hint of cigar boxes. Not immensely complex maybe, but once you’ve nosed it, that doesn’t matter any more. Mouth: still very fruity (apricot again, strawberry marmalade, more tropical fruits as well). Nice sweetness with soft vanill and a great “bite” of spices from the virgin oak. A little pine resin. Finish: long and spicy with fruits and mocha.

A full maturation of 30 years in new oak normally doesn’t work (the oak is too active and overtakes the original spirit) but for BenRiach it turns out lovely, especially because the fruit basket is big enough to counterbalance the spices.
Around € 160. Sold out…

Score: 91/100

BenRiach 33 yo 1977 (52,2%, OB 2010,
cask #1033, Pedro Ximénez finish, 331 btl.)

Nose: heavy sherry! Raisins with a chocolate coating. Strawberries and red berries with cocoa powder. A light beefiness (ham) and hints of oak polish. Sweet tobacco. Let’s try water. Hmm, that doesn’t change much. Mouth: very punchy. Cherry liqueur, some rancio. Figs. Spiced bitter chocolate (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves). Growing more herbal (a little resin and mint). A bit of orange liqueur. Quite fruity although there’s a tannic, dry oaky side to it as well. Maybe a little more winey than its GlenDronach siblings. Adding water highlights the herbal side but helps to balance the oak. Finish: a little drier, but still very rich. Blackcurrant marmalade and spices.

This kind of heavy sherry expression eliminates the boundaries between BenRiach and GlenDronach almost completely. This could have easily been produced at GlenDronach. As such it is less unique than the 1970 PX, but it’s certainly recommended. Around € 240.

Score: 91/100

BenRiach 30 yo 1979 (47,9%, OB 2010,
cask #7511, bourbon barrel, 173 btl.)

Nose: apple peel, ripe banana and rich honey. Then some tangerine and a big vanilla / cinnamon wave. A bit of toffee / natural caramel as well. Warm oak that’s well integrated, with whiffs of mint and nutmeg, and a faint leathery note. Overall a classic interplay of fruits and spices. Mouth: rich and fresh with honey, citrus and spices (mint, a little pepper and ginger). Vanilla and white chocolate. Unripe pineappple with coconut and a buttery / creamy note. Nutmeg and mint again. Finish: quite a lot of sweet oak, but enough fruit to counterbalance. Still some spices.

An vivid old BenRiach with all the typical elements you’d expect from a high quality Speyside distillery. Around € 190.

Score: 90/100

BenRiach 19 yo 1991 (54,9%, OB 2010, cask #4389, Virgin American Oak finish, 306 btl.)

Nose: nutmeg and orange peel. Tangerine. A few nutty notes and roasted grains. A little ginger, vanilla and heather. Hints of butter toffee and freshly sawn wood as well. No excessive oak though, since it’s only a finish. It seems to follow the BenRiach tradition, only spiced up a bit. Mouth: initially a sweet attack on fruitcake and toffee. Stewed fruits. Hazelnut paste. A lot of cinnamon and vanilla, with a peppery kick. Finish: dries out steadily with vanilla and warm oak.

This BenRiach is sweet and really spicy. It amplifies the classic Speyside character. Very punchy yet very drinkable. Around € 85.

Score: 87/100

This BenRiach 1984 is the only heavily peated release this time (the other 1984 seems to be peated as well, although it mentions “Classic Speyside style”). That same year already brought us a few enjoyable peated releases. A sister cask (BenRiach 1984 cask #4049) was bottled in 2007.

BenRiach 25 yo 1984 (51,7%, OB 2010, cask #4052, peated / Tawny Port finish,
265 btl.)

Nose: rich, straightforward “Speyside” peat. It’s rounded, rich and smoky but not in the coastal / medicinal “Islay” way. Smoked tea with some resinous notes. After a while, a second layer shows up, with sweet oranges and a little grenadine. Faint hints of strawberry. Nice. A touch of eucalyptus / peppermint. Mouth: even more peat now, quite huge in fact. There’s a fruity edge but it seems to be drowned in the peat waves. Some resinous notes again. The spices are abundant: bags of pepper, a bit of nutmeg and getting really herbal in the end. Hints of liquorice. Finish: long, with a warm and peaty character.

This one is a little on the peaty side – it doesn’t feel like a 25 year-old and the fruits struggle to get the attention. I won’t say this often, but a little more wine influence could have helped to find a nicer balance on the palate. The nose is the best element for me. Around € 120.

Score: 85/100

BenRiach 1976 33yo cask #8795
(53.2% – bourbon hogshead)
BenRiach 1977 33yo cask #1033
(52.2% – Pedro Ximénez finish)
BenRiach 1978 32yo cask #4417
(50.4% – Tokaji finish)
BenRiach 1979 30yo cask #7511
(47.9% – Bourbon Barrel)
BenRiach 1980 30yo cask #2532
(51.1% – Virgin American Oak finish)
BenRiach 1981 28yo cask #2589
(51.6% – bourbon barrel)
BenRiach 1984 25yo cask #493
(54.1% – bourbon hogshead)
BenRiach 1984 25yo cask #4052
(51.7% – peated / tawny Port Finish)
BenRiach 1991 19yo cask #4389
(54.9% – Virgin American Oak Finish)
BenRiach 1993 17yo cask #7420
(5637% – Gaja Barolo Finish)

The new release celebrates the sixth anniversary of the first bottling of BenRiach under its new independent owners. Master Distiller Billy Walker has selected ten highly distinctive casks from 1976 to 1993 for BenRiach aficionados.

Bottled in July 2010, the ten are all  cask strength, natural colour and non chill-filtered. They are individually numbered and presented in a gift tube.

BenRiach 16 yo 1993 (55,6%, OB 2009 for Pin’Art, hogshead – Sauternes finish, cask #2587, 295 btl.)

Nose: starts rather curiously buttery on toffee and nuts. Hints of marzipan. Not as tropical as I thought it would be, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After a while the expected sweet and fruity notes shine through. Grapes, peaches on syrup, soaked raisins, hints of dried figs. A little water brings out Cavaillon melon. Nice balance. Mouth: thick mouth-feel with a little vanilla. Sugar coated nuts. Quite a refined sweetness although the spices soon take over (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg). The fruits are pushed aside by the power of the spices. Water doesn’t change this. Finish: dry and peppery, with lots of spices from the oak.

The combination of the spirit with the Sauternes influence is not at all cloying nor overly sweet. It’s well balanced (although a little on the spicy side) and very enjoyable. Around € 70.

Score: 85/100

Thanks for the sample, Serge.

This BenRiach 1984 won a silver award at the 2008 Malt Maniacs Awards.

BenRiach 23 yo 1984 (54,2%, SMoS 2008, cask #194, 214 btl.)

Nose: clearly a peated version, even though it’s not at all monstrous. Nice dark ashes. Smoked ham. Surprisingly coastal for a BenRiach, with tarry ropes and whiffs of sea air. Nonetheless it’s beautifully balanced with marmalade and honey which makes this one very attractive. Hints of diesel oil. Waves of citrus. Very entertaining. Mouth: very thick and powerful. Much more peated. Really dark, almost like burnt whisky. Lots of pepper (red chilli even) but again there’s a sweet coating. Finish: a bit drier, with coal and diesel oil. Hints of liquorice.

A high quality peated Speysider, very muscular. I really loved the nose, too bad I find the peat a tad overpowering on the palate. Sold out (around € 75 at the time so great value for money).

Score: 87/100

By the way, why are the yearly limited releases so well hidden? These are the crown jewels.

Quercus Alba (American white oak) is normally used for maturing bourbon. It’s close-grained timber, very resistent to leakage or evaporation and low in tannins. There is a general agreement that new oak rarely produces whisky of an acceptable quality, but recently there has been quite a lot of wood research and results are getting very interesting.

BenRiach 31 yo 1977 (43,2%, OB 2009, Virgin oak cask #3798, 292 btl.)

Nose: lots of orange peel and fresh orange juice. Whiffs of green banana and vanilla. Also a little nutmeg and freshly sawn wood. After a while there are a few notes of pineapple. Orange infused tea and a little moist cardboard. Not very complex but very drinkable. I was afraid it would be too oaky but it isn’t. Mouth: rich and contemporary I would say. Starting sweet with the oranges that go on and on. Hints of sweet almonds. Growing bigger with some garden herbs and more nutmeg. Spicy vanilla cream. Finish: even more spicy now, with plain oak coming through. Nice development. Chewed pencils in the aftertaste.

If you don’t mind obvious oak in your whisky and you like the recent Glenmorangie oak experiments (Artisan / Astar / Signet), then this should get your attention. Very good although I expected a bit more complexity after so many years of ageing. Around € 165.

Score: 87/100

This concludes my review of this year’s BenRiach single casks. Overall very high quality with a couple of truly exceptional releases.

BenRiach 38 yo 1970 (49,1%, OB 2009, Pedro Ximenez finish, cask #1035, 250 btl.)

Nose: Dried fruits (raisins, dates) but lush fruits at the same time (blackcurrants, blueberries). It’s much fresher than you would expect. There are even the wonderful hints of exotic fruits (tangerines, pineapple) that you find in other 1970’s BenRiach and which makes this the perfect fruit basket. Some bourbon-like elements as well: pine resin with a hint of mint. Lovely wood polish. Cocoa and espresso in the background. Now this is what I call complexity! Mouth: roasted coffee beans and milk chocolate. Dried figs. Hints of tobacco. Rather smokey for an unpeated bottling. The sherry is not the usual nutty or syrupy type. It’s rather winey, like a Shiraz or some Tempranillo but it works very well. A little toffee. Hints of redcurrant marmalade in the aftertaste. Finish: dark chocolate with spices. Very long.

This is head-shaking stuff. It’s different from all other sherry bottlings and simply excellent. I would buy cases if not for the price: around € 280.

Score: 92/100

BenRiach 24 yo 1984 (49,2%, OB 2009, Pedro Ximenez finish, cask #1048, 279 btl.)

Nose: there’s indeed a good deal of peat. A dry, chalky kind of peat, not the “oceanic” Islay type. It’s nicely integrated with the sherry notes of dark chocolate and dry fruits. Nutty. Some sweet liquorice. There’s also an earthy, vegetal odour to it that I associate with liquid brown soap (not sure if that’s known in other countries). Hemp maybe? Or latex? A bit strange but not unpleasant. Mouth: very peaty and smokey. Again some fruity elements from the sherry, but I guess the balance is 65% peat, 35% sherry now. Hints of pine needles and moss. Hints of caramel, cocoa and even dark ale beer (a peated Chimay Blue?). Interesting but not easy to pin down. Finish: long, smokey and even slightly tarry.

I can’t think of other PX sherry bottlings that have this style. Very different. I can’t say that I adore it, but it’s quite unique. A curiosum.
Around € 125.

Score: 86/100

BenRiach 33 yo 1975 (52,2%, OB 2009, Tawny port finish, cask #4450, 648 btl.)

Nose: full of pink grapefruit. Some more exotic fruits as well, I would say mango and cherries.  Raisins. Hardly any peat… A bit of flower potpourri as well (old roses seem to be a common thread in the wine finished single casks so far), maybe even some soapy hints but still very attractive. Mouth: sweet and fruity. Dried fruits as well as more fresh, citrusy notes. Grapefruit again. Some banana. Apples with cinnamon towards the finish. Quite some oak influence and winey notes. Finish: medium long, on berry fruits and grapefruit.

On the one hand this is clearly the same family as the famous 1976 BenRiachs, with notes of exotic fruits and grapefruit. On the other hand, there’s the added layer of port wine notes. I’m sure this will even appeal to people who normally don’t like wine finishes. Don’t expect heavy peat though. Available at around € 200.

Score: 89/100