Review by: dustbunna
Benromach is certainly one of the more interesting outside-the-box Speysides to me. Owned by Gordon & MacPhail, they produce an ‘old-school’ lightly peated Speyside malt, and are to my knowledge one of only two established Scottish distilleries to experiment with brewer’s yeast in their wort (the other being Ben Nevis.) Now, I’ve not had great experiences with Gordon & MacPhail bottlings so far, but I really love what Benromach is doing– their house style, like Craigellachie, finds a bit-of-everything approach that stirs in enough funk to make it almost Campbeltown-like (which is always welcome.) I reviewed the 9yr Peat Smoke a while ago, which I enjoyed, and also tasted the regular 10yr once before from a mini, remembering it as having a strange jumble of notes that somehow still work very well together. I’ve heard wonderful things about this high-voltage version, called ‘Imperial Proof’ in the US (since 100° Proof refers to the British system and equates to 57.1% ABV), aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, and now replaced by the vintage-stated Cask Strength batch series.
Distillery: Benromach.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 57%.
Age: 10 years. Bottled in 2016.
Cask type: Vatting of first-fill ex-bourbon and first-fill ex-sherry casks.
Price: $65 USD.
Artificial Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 3 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: red fruits, earth, chicory, semisweet chocolate, some herbs in the background, a couple drops of water bring out toffee and coffee grounds, lime and orange candies, yellow cake, tobacco, smoked/honey-glazed ham in the background, minerals.
Palate: oily and thick ~ bitter arrival leads to gummy Life Savers, more fresh herbs and red fruits, some peaty, smoky funk, a few drops of water bring out more earth and coffee grounds, a hint of rubbery sulfur, edges round off somewhat and sulfur grows more present by a hair.
Finish: medium-short ~ turns up the heat with baking spices, a bit of black pepper, a few drops of water bring out sweet cloves on the tail end, charred wood.
Conclusion: I had high hopes for this based on the non-harmonious complexity I found in the regular 43% 10yr, and the Imperial-proof 10yr certainly builds on that, cranking up the funkier side and mellowing nicely with time open. Weird and enjoyable, especially in the gorgeous nose (I’d be happy for ages just nosing this), but the finish is a bit of a letdown with not much besides spices, char and a flash of heat. This whisky reminds me a little bit of Springbank 12CS in complexity, but doesn’t quite reach the same flavor intensity in the palate and finish. It also has that sulfurous edge that’s constantly threatening to invade– I made sure to finish this quickly once the sulfur began to grow more present, because in my experience if it’s not there when the bottle is opened and begins to grow later, it can easily take over everything else.
Final Score: 80.
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.
Malt Runners 