During the last months of 2012, four cask samples of BenRiach 1976 moved around Holland to find a buyer. Possibly the last casks of this vintage to be bottled for outsiders (i.e. not in the official yearly batch of single casks). I believe the Usquebaugh Society had the first pick, cask #3031 which is a sister cask of the great ones bottled for Whisky-E, Taiwan and Shinanoya.
BenRiach 36 yo 1976 (43,1%, OB for Usquebaugh Society 2012, refill bourbon cask #3031, 124 btl.)
BenRiach 36 yo 1976 (43,1%, OB for Usquebaugh Society 2012, refill bourbon cask #3031, 124 btl.)Nose: nicely fruity as expected. Jammy, tropical fruits like mango, passion fruit, papaya and tangerine. Also a slightly brighter side of lemon. Quite some mint and hints of resin. Also some fresh herbal notes in the background and soft spices (a little nutmeg). Closer to #3032 than to #3029 which means it’s not the biggest fruitbomb among these wonderful 1976’s but one of the more complex versions.
Mouth: the same fruitiness, a little more on the sour side now (passion fruits and tons of pink grapefruit). Cranberries maybe. Underneath is some obvious oak, mint and a little ginger.
Finish: still on grapefruits and spices from the oak, slightly drying and fades rather quickly. Maybe a little more oomph could have taken it further.
This one is a few degrees below most other 1976’s (and some of the other Dutch releases will even be around 40%). It might be taking away some of the magic. Let’s repeat though that it’s very high quality and it does have the beautiful tropical fruits that we love so much. Around € 325 if you weren’t a member of the club – sold out now. Thanks for the sample, Bram.
Score: 92/100