As some of you might have noticed, there are a new unopened list, #2, at the bottom of this site now, and the simple explanation why is this. "There weren't room for more names in list 1. And since I don't wanna swap whiskies back and forth between the two lists I will now full the #2 list until the first list is empty, and then trade names on the lists. Quite simple. Anyway, Benromach is a middle-peaty speysider at about 10ppm according to reliable online sources. A nice bridge between the peaty Islayers and so on, and the upcoming "10 Off the Beaten Path"-Sessions. I'm quite excited about this one as I feel Benromach is a distillery that I'm yet to really discover tastewise, hopefully this experience will show me what it has to offer.
Benromach 14yo 1968-1982 40% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
An older young one, bottled 2 years prior to my birth, impressive as it has little to no evaporation. Smells peaty, at first but also there's this hint of wet grass, wild mushrooms, moss, quite earthy, and a quite fresh end, sort of like the smell of freshly grounded mint or even eucalyptus. The taste is intense and rich, more floral then the nose and with some grape fruit, pickled cucumber, straw, bitter oranges, lime peel, let's add some water. These weird and bitter fruity notes just keeps coming. I wish I hadn't added that water as it's just the same as the initial palate, but with a more peppery aftertaste which makes the initial fruityness disappear a bit to quick to make more observations on it. All in all it's an interesting and quite extreme malt, in a bizarre way.
I wish I had a full bottle of this, a highly unusual and fun whisky: 6
Benromach 15yo 43% OB
As there are so many whiskies that I've now tried most OB expressions of, it's a joy when I discover some older untried standards in my whisky cabinet. This one is also bottled by G&M. The smell is of honey, coriander, parsley, cinnamon, cumin, lots of different herbs and lighter spices, with a subtle sweetness, I'm expecting a gentle dram. After a while the nose opens more up on some unexpected coastal and peaty odors, dried haddock and gasoline. Now it becomes a bit more appealing, for my taste at least. The taste is way lighter than on the 1968. cinnamon again and some oranges, a bit of oiled herrings and some mustard and lemon juice. You know, the ones you can get from stale mayonnaise and raw mustard (not mixed together fortunately). All in all a small disappointment, I was expecting a bit more of a growl than this small purrs.
An easily drinkable lightweighter, but that's about it: 4
Benromach 22yo 1978-2000 56% Scott's Selection
Time to play with the big lads now, a good strength 22yo from Scott's, which I have not yet come around to taste enough of to make an insightful comment, but I have more from them and I'm eager to try more. This one is filled with honey, licorice, eucalyptus, salt, peat and dry red wine on the palate. One of the better ones so far. The taste is sour and sweet, strawberries and lemon, honey and ginger, very concentrated flavors amongst a definite peaty touch. Maybe the best Benromach I've tried so far? It's longlasting and warming. This one I could easily have a couple bottles of and spread around so that the ones that haven't tried this distillery could be mighty impressed. Intense and peppery on the finish. A quite magnificent whisky as it has an old fino style that I really like. Bitter, sour, sweet, peppery, need I say more?
Well done Scott: 8
Benromach 9yo 2002-2011 50% OB for Premium Sprits Belgium
Why this one after the Scott's? Well, first of all it is way younger, and that often means less mellowed, second of all, and this is the most important reason. It says on the label that it's a "Benromach Peated", and with that kind of diction, I would assume it's a bit more peated than the usual Benromach? The smell is peaty, bitter and has some carrot and onion thing going on, half sweet, half bitter/sour. The taste is dry and peppery, which of course could do with the fact it's been maturing in a refill sherry hogshead. Not as interesting as I would've hoped, but a decent dram it is. There is a stronger, but not by far, peat impact in this one, but the lack of other components makes it pretty much a bystander after the fantastic Scott's.
Will deliver in any setting, but not the one you ask the bartender about: 6
Next distillery: Off the beaten path#1
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