Benromach 15 Year

Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: Years ago, Orehnmadgib gave me a sample of this whisky. I should probably get around to it.

Oh, I’m getting around to it. Nice. Maybe because Benromach recently had some single casks slithering out of the warehouse.

What whisky did we review? Benromach 15, not one of the aforementioned slithering single casks, but rather a standard offering from Benromach that was aged for at least 15 years in either first fill bourbon or sherry casks, vatted, then expertly landed down for the general public to enjoy. Why? Because slapping down a bottle would break it genius. Come on people, keep up! I’m using random verbs for fun here!

Not to mention, for once, I didn’t wait until the whisky went off the market, and this is still available. Yay me!

What’s the distillery? Benromach, per their own website, matures their whisky exclusively in first-fill casks. That’s… impressive.

Much can be said on whisky making, and what each distillery does or doesn’t do. It’s a process that started in farm sheds to use grain to give farmers and their workers the giggles. And while I understand not all whisky can use all the best methods and still make a profit, it’s appreciated when a whisky company does that. So it costs a bit more to use only first-fill casks, but you end up with a distinctive product that way.

What’s my bias? Per the above, the idea that Benromach uses only first-fill casks is a huge plus in my books, and as such I’m on their side for that. So I start with that bias.

On the other hand, looking over my previous reviews of Benromach, there’s really only been one “all-star”, which normally would mean I quote the song, but the band recently acted really poorly (see: Like actual Nazis), so fuck them all the way back to the swamp. That all-star? Albert Einstein… No, that’s silly, I meant the legendary 39-year-old release.

So I’m actually biassed against them, even though I commend their usage of good casks. Let’s see if the 15-year release will change that, shall we?

Distillery: Benromach Distillery.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Speyside, Scotland.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 15 years.

Cask type: First-fill Sherry & Bourbon Casks.

Price: £73.

Color: 2.5YR 4/10

Nose: Strawberry, grape, ash, anise, chocolate

Bit of smoke/spice/chocolate, and some strong sugar laden fruits. For my American readers, fruit is like dessert but has fibre and therefore is healthy. Some desserts have near-fruit flavours.

It’s a nice nose, though I feel like the strong sherry casks and the slight smoke are taking the majority here. Also it’s very sweet fruit and not that rich fruit aspect, and could be a turn off.

I sure hope I don’t feel bad commenting on too much sweetness here…

Taste: Molasses, anise, broccolini, cherry, fudge

Wow that gets bitter fast. And now I sound like myself years ago, complaining about too much bitterness.

There’s still some good sweet aspects, and I like where the fruit went (being richer rather than too sweet), but there’s a vegetal bitterness that sticks out. It’s needed, because it’s still sweet, but it can be a bit disjoint.

Finish: Soubracht, cherry, Amaro, mint

Oh, we’re just throwing away almost all the sweetness now, are we? More vegetal, more herbal, and a lot less sweet. Very unique, though not without issues.

Conclusion: Unique bitter queen. I think this would have worked at 46%, unless somehow Benromach is one of those distillates that don’t change too much at cask strength (see: Redbreast) (IMHO).

Some might grab this expecting a smokey Speyside whisky mixed with sherry as a good mix. I think they’ll be thrown off, as there’s no salt here, just vegetal peat. So what you end up with is some disjoint areas where vegetal and sweet take over, and you have your entire meal at once, as it were. Just a side of cherry pie with your spinach, you know, normal ways of human eating.

It’s not a bad dram at all. Aperitif fans will find a lot of mileage out of it. Maybe if I liked vegetal notes more, I’d score it higher.

Final Score: 77.

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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