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| Hello, that is certainly one of our (virtually) day by day tastings. Santé! |
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August 9, 2021
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Not that Benromach’s notably farmy. Effectively, it generally is. What’s certain is that we’ve not seen any indie Benromach since round 2000. Thoughts you, even house owners Gordon & MacPhail have not bottled any lately. We’ll attempt to do a wee round-up at this time, beginning with a more moderen batch of the common 10 (WF 88 in 2017, within the older livery).
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Benromach 10 yo (43%, OB, 2020) 
I don’t imagine they’ve modified something to the recipe once they went for the brand new, far more conventional packaging. Once I write ‘conventional’ I imply circa 1910 design ;-). Color: gold. Nostril: certainly, fairly farmy. Farmyard, hay, tractor oil, muddy slit, chalk, coal smoke, stale seawater, Play-doh, black olives, Asian fish sauce, crushed slate… Certainly a whole lot of motion in there, and a whole lot of character. Un-boring malt whisky. Mouth: completely glorious, beginning very salty, tight, grassy (artichokes and simply grass), with actually a whole lot of olives, extra salted fish, Seville oranges, salty tea and caramel… Not boring certainly. End: lengthy, nonetheless very salty, sootier now, considerably Springbanky, simply even a tad ‘dirtier’. Smokier aftertaste. Feedback: nice mud. I imply, you see what I imply. The 88 mark holds clear and simple. Attainable BFYB in August, we’ll see.
SGP:473 – 88 factors. |
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Benromach 2009/2020 ‘Contrasts: Peat Smoke’ (46%, OB, 1st fill bourbon) 
I imagine the common Benromachs are peated to round 10ppm, however for this one they used malt that had been flavoured to 42ppm peat. Now bear in mind the relation between the peat within the malt and the peat within the whisky is something however linear. Color: white wine. Nostril: this one’s clearly fruitier and cleaner, and imagine me or not, I discover it much less peaty than the ten, even when we’re a lot nearer to traditional coastal whiskies similar to Caol Ila. Lemon, granny smith, crushed oyster shells, a drop of antiseptic, a wee little bit of band-aid, and just a bit inexperienced curry that is a bit extra ‘Benromach’ certainly. Moderately Hazelburn than Longrow, when you see what I imply. Mouth: similar emotions of freshness, coastal issues, seashells, lemons, fennel seeds and even pastis, lemon curd, a fairly minimal medicinal aspect, a bit inexperienced pepper… It is definitely cleaner than ‘Benromach’. End: medium, straightforward, a bit extra on salted liquorice and certainly extra pastis/ouzo/raki. A really clear smokiness within the aftertaste. Feedback: actually good, if perhaps not excessively crucial within the grand scheme of whisky issues.
SGP:555 – 84 factors. |
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Benromach 2012/2021 ‘Contrasts: Peat Smoke Sherry Cask’ (46%, OB, UK unique, first fill sherry hogsheads)
This sherried variant is model new whereas the malt was peated to 55ppm this time, a fairly Tufnelian transfer. Color: gold. Nostril: we have come a lot nearer to the common 10 this time, with these pretty acetic, meaty and really fermentary notes, with some Tabasco, onion soup, Worcester sauce, then dried fermented fish and touches of hoisin sauce. Would you please move the Peking duck? Mouth: ah, hurray, good dust! And cracked pepper, leather-based, tobacco, Grisons meat, cold-smoked German (or Alsatian) sausage, marmalade, espresso and cocoa dregs, cinnamon and paprika… A number of motion on this one once more. Proper up my alley. End: lengthy, with a bit extra toffee, raisins and bean curd. Feedback: not a peat bomb in any respect however this time it’s clearly ‘ smoky malt’. Wonderful wild composition, on par with the improbable common 10 in my ebook.
SGP:466 – 88 factors. |
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Benromach 11 yo 2009/2021 ‘Germany Unique’ (48%, OB, 1st fill bourbon barrel)
Shall we discover cold-smoked German sausages once more? Oh and does Benromach want sherry? Color: white wine. Nostril: it’s extra on oils and chalk than the bourbon distinction: peat, extra on that mud and clay, extra on paraffin and shoe polish, on apple peel, inexperienced melons, honeysuckle… Mouth: it is actually on hay syrup and wine, ever tried that? It may be extraordinarily good however I imagine it is arduous to search out. They make some within the Vosges mountains right here. Notes of quinces, peaches, a fairly delicate soot/steel aspect, a bit melon, and an lighter general profile for certain. Benromach ‘gentle’? Or a minimum of ‘Lighter’? End: medium, with touches of bananas and pineapples, that are uncommon in Benromach (however I have never tried 1000’s). Feedback: wasn’t this lighter, cleaner child triple-distilled?
SGP:642 – 84 factors. |
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Maybe a a lot older one as this little session’s signature? Certainly we have by no means tried the…
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Benromach 40 yo ‘Heritage’ (43%, OB, 700 bottles, 2019) 
A vatting of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry. I had discovered the 35 yo completely beautiful (WF 91) however can’t not marvel why this 40 remains to be out there, and at a good worth of round £600. Color: golden with inexperienced/bronze hues. Nostril: I am all the time enthusiastic as quickly as I detect ‘beehive-y’ notes mingled with something resinous and/or waxy. Which is the case right here, as you’d guess. A number of fir honey, previous fir wooden, beeswax, furnishings and leather-based polish (or very effectively taken-care-of previous Jaguar saloon), patchouli and dried pot-pourri, eucalyptus cigarettes, final 12 months’s apples, Chinese language grocery retailer (old-style), a bit menthol… So every thing is effectively and wonderful right here on the nostril, however we additionally know that these profiles could result in a flattish, drying and cardboardy palate. We stated ‘could’… Mouth: by no means, this isn’t drained, nor has it turn out to be drying. I might fairly point out extra beeswax, definitely dried citrus (kumquats, bergamots), touches of aniseed and yellow chartreuse (the lighter, smoother one), wormwood or absinth, and certainly cough lozenges. Wonderful, virtually beautiful. End: medium, not any drier or extra drying, curiously recent. Pine liqueur, kumquats, liquorice, touches of bitter almonds… You would need to wait till the very finish of the aftertaste to discover a tiny-wee contact of cardboard or black tea mud (Twinning’s teabags). Feedback: spectacular freshness and complexity, think about this at 45% ! Subsequent aim, attempting the 45 years previous… (as all of them say, it is good to have objectives in life).
SGP:461 – 91 factors. |
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