Benromach 9 Year (2010) Single Cask

Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: Jump back a year or so, and I’m out shopping in Alberta, as one is want to do, and I found a single cask Benromach picked out by Chateau Louis Liquor Store.

Uh, of course I bought it. And split it with a buddy who wanted in on it. Then a bunch of things happened and it was left at my buddy’s house. Now that all that stuff is wrapped up, I can finally sit down and review it.

What whisky did we review? Benromach 9 2010 Single Cask is one of many single casks from Benromach that have recently been showing up. This particular one is aged in a first fill bourbon barrel for 10 years and was bottled for Chateau Louis Liquor Store in Edmonton. Do I know if they split the cask with someone else? Not at all! 

What’s the distillery? Benromach is a Speyside distillery that currently ferments their mash between three and five days, using two different types of yeast: Brewer’s and Distiller’s yeast.

Honestly more whisky nerds should be pushing for yeast experimentation like this. Yes, it takes some time, but we’re talking about Benromach: A company that keeps all parts of the process in house, uses only first-fill casks, and uses two different yeasts. As such, tweaking that fermentation process shouldn’t be something that we wait for every 10 years and have to pay 3x on the secondary. It should be something that’s happening quite a bit.

In a conversation with a master distiller (not from Benromach), they mentioned they had the historic yeast  from earlier in the distillery’s life, and didn’t know if they should experiment with it, and I had to hold myself back from saying “do you hate money” as a response. Yes, do something different once or twice, it’ll be fun.

What’s my bias? As I said in a recent review, I like the steps that Benromach takes to have good quality products.

That said, if you’ve read my Benromach reviews… It’s not my jam… save for a 39 year old release.

So I’m at a loss here. I like what Benromach does, I like that they put the processes first, and I want to support them. But I also have to accept that my reviews are lower for them because of where my taste buds go.

Much like I have come to learn with my own mental illnesses and what they do to impact my life, it’s a tough situation. As such, I think I’ll keep trying more Benromach in an effort.

Distillery: Benromach Distillery.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Speyside, Scotland.

ABV: 59.1%. Cask strength.

Age: 9 years. Distilled May 7, 2010. Bottled February 10, 2020.

Cask type: First-fill Bourbon Barrel.

Price: $140.00

Color: 5Y 9/6.

Nose: Peach BBQ sauce, Johnny cake (yeast based pancake), grassy, cotton candy, cereal

Without water? Man, you get this fruity, bit funky, grassy, sharply sweet whisky.

Water hurts the nose though, and it’s kinda weird. Normally I sip a whisky and see what I can find with time, letting the air change the whisky. Then I add water. I added water here and we ended up with a less complex nose.

Taste: Sweet rolls, cinnamon, Perrier, earthy peat, alcohol

Earthy, sweet, and mineral. The initial flavours give you this elaborate, unique complex dram. Then it doesn’t really go far enough to get there.  It’s like when someone’s a great salesperson and utter shit at following through, aka 98% of CEOs.

I joke… it’s closer to 99%.

Luckily water helped calm down the raw alcohol note a bit, but I think this needed a bit more time in the cask. That said, single casks usually happen because the warehouse is packed, so I don’t think that could have happened.

Finish: Button mushrooms, mineral, cloves, caramel, hops (floral funk)

Very earthy, more of that funk (closer to a hoppiness), and some sweet elements. I feel that this finish fixes the main issue I had with the previous Benromach, the 15 year, as it had the issue that earth and sweet notes were in conflict, whereas here I feel the sweet element is bridged by the hoppiness.

Conclusion: Unique earthy and yeast festival. It’s not a whisky you’d pour a non-whisky fan. Whisky fans will hold onto this because it’s odd, because it’s fun, and because it’s different. A non-whisky fan would be at odds with how odd it is.

Think of it like a counterculture scene: You don’t just bring someone to a weird avant-garde event where the front three rows will get wet and the average amount of piercings per person is greater than 10. You play the album first and maybe mist them while showing you got your dimples pierced.

That said, I think if you are a whisky nerd, passing this up is just silly. If I could buy another bottle, I would in a second, because we don’t get something like this every day. Makes me want to find more of these Benromach single casks.

Final Score: 81.

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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