Review by: The Muskox

I’ve found Benriach’s single cask releases to be consistently tasty, no matter the cask type, peated or unpeated. They have been creeping up in price though… of course, that’s less of a problem when you have friends to pour their whisky for you!

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Distillery: BenRiach.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 58.7%, cask strength.

Age: 11 years old. Distilled on 08/08/2006. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Cask #2406, a port pipe.

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

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Nose: Sweet and malty. Loads of pastries: raspberry danishes, croissants, brioche toast, and egg tarts. Maraschino cherries, honeycrisp apples, orange peel, strawberry granita. Lots of caramel, some cola, almonds, and white chocolate. A hint of honey.

Palate: Medium texture. Ripe raspberries, honey-dipped apples, powdered sugar, and rosewater on the arrival. Big red fruit, sweet malt, and caramel in the middle. French toast drizzled with maple syrup and topped with fresh berries. Some orange peel tea, raspberry sorbet, more honey, and a hint of cinnamon.

Finish: Medium-length and syrupy sweet, with lingering cinnamon spice. Honey, brown sugar, whipped cream, and sugary cereals. Pink lemonade, peaches-in-syrup, and raspberry ice cream.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Fuzzy pink bramble tornado”

Notes: Very sweet, very straightforward, but also tasty. As a big fan of ice cream and raspberries, I found this to be a nice dessert dram. The fruity Benriach spirit goes with port cask maturation almost too easily. Lately I’ve been preferring peated whiskies for port maturation, or at least whiskies with more robust or spicy distillates. This one’s maybe… not dramatic enough? I dunno.

Final Score: 80.

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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.