Review by: The Muskox

I’m always excited to try Benriach single casks. I’ve been lucky enough to try a whole bunch, and they’ve been quite varied but all pretty great. Benriach is one of those chameleon malts, that manages to work in any cask, peated or unpeated. I’ve never had a single cask this old that was also peated, so this bottling is yet another new take on Benriach for me.

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Distillery: BenRiach.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 51.1%, cask strength.

Age: 20 years old. Distilled on 06/05/1995. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Cask #7383, an Oloroso sherry butt.

Color: Rich amber. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Rich, dark sherry sweetness. Black Forest gateau, cola candies, orange bitters, banana bread, pralines ‘n’ cream, and chocolate-frosted vanilla cupcakes. The peat smoke is meaty-earthy-sweet, and intermingled with the chocolate. Pulled pork in a sweet molasses barbeque sauce, nutty cooked veg, smoked chilis, and cumin. Both Swedish Fish and Swedish meatballs.

Palate: Thick texture. Sweet on the arrival, with dark dried red fruit, blackberry crumble, and Dr. Pepper. Thick chocolate, sweet spicy oak, then steadily building warm woody peat. First comes the smoked meat, then a bit vegetal and herbal. Just a bit of a medicinal edge. Cool damp dunnage warehouse, cinnamon, and gingerbread.

Finish: Medium-long and very sweet. Barbeque pulled pork, toasted marshmallows floating in hot cocoa, mixed berry pie, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. An interesting freshness appears. Orange sherbet in a waffle cone with a square of milk chocolate. Okay, a lot more than just a square. A bit of basil, too.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Ganache panache”

Notes: A nice ‘n’ thick (and sweet) peat/sherry fusion. Well, I should really say sherry/peat, since the cask is definitely out in front of the woody highland peat. That said, there’s a good amount of savouriness in here, with those succulent porky notes. Really fantastic rich chocolate notes throughout as well. Maybe not quite as exciting or complex a whisky as the label would lead you to believe, as it’s not quite a Solstice-esque standout, but it’s certainly a high-quality and delicious dram.

Final Score: 85.

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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.