Review by: dustbunna
Distillery: Benromach.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Speyside, Scotland.
ABV: 59.6%. Cask strength.
Age: 9 years. Distilled in 2012. Bottled in 2022.
Cask type: Vatting of first-fill ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
Price: €63 EUR for 700mL.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 7 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: coal smoke, toffee, red fruits (berry jam), butterscotch, caramel, cinnamon, charcuterie meats, honey, dead leaves.
Palate: medium-full body ~ follows straight through from the nose with coal smoke, toffee, red fruits, sarsaparilla, moss, more dead leaves, iron, a touch more tannic.
Finish: medium-long ~ forest floor, berries, hint of gunpowder, minerals, more toffee, more moss, soot, wet rocks, mulch.
Thoughts: Another belter from Benromach. The distillery has quietly been releasing these vintage-stated, full-strength whiskies year after year, and I’ve loved every one of them I’ve tried. The notes from batch to batch are pretty consistent, bold and chock-full of red berries, sooty coal smoke, earth, toffee, and minerals—it’s just a question of which batches seem to best balance all those notes. This batch has fantastic old-world complexity on display, and with the honeyed, meaty and ferric tertiary notes peeking out from its corners, by a hair it may be my favorite one I’ve tasted so far.
Final Score: 88.
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 
It’s odd to recall that my first encounter with batch 1 of the cask strength left me pretty turned off on the distillery considering every time I’ve tried one since has been pretty darn good. Sounds like these have continued to get even better!
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