Benromach 10 Year

Review by: The Muskox

Since there was no basketball to watch this past week, my dad and I decided to head to our liquor store and try some whisky. The standout for him was this Benromach 10 year old. He enjoyed it so much I felt I had to return to give the malt a proper taste and review. My conclusions ended up pretty similar.

Distillery: Benromach.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 10 years.

Cask type: First-fill sherry and bourbon casks.

Price: $80 CAD.

Color: Deep gold. Natural Color. Chill-filtered.

Nose: Immediate beefy richness. Brown sugar and deep, old sherry are right at the front. They’re supplemented by an earthy, peaty funk. There’s plenty of walnut oil, hay, fresh leather, old pencils and rich smoke. The sherry comes through as raisins and rich red berries. The bourbon casks make themselves known with mellow citrus and a caramel popcorn aroma. What a nose.

Palate: Mouth-coatingly rich. Coffee, nutmeg, orange. More red sherry fruit and toasted nuts. Leather armchair. The earthy black pepper spike at the end diffuses into soft smoke. There’s a wood sugar note that comes in at the end, sort of like maple syrup, but… woodier?

Finish: Very long. Milk tea, jasmine, white chocolate. Apricot sweetness. Tobacco. I could taste soft smoke for easily 20 minutes after finishing my glass.

Conclusion: There’s a LOT of meat here for a 10 year old whisky. The earthiness really enhances the other flavours, and the smoke supports everything from underneath. Feels big and rich despite the chill-filtration. The distillery is apparently modeling this whisky after the older style of Speysides, which had a touch of smoke to them. If that’s the case, I’m glad to have this glencairn-shaped time machine to the delicious, peated past.

Final Score: 87.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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