Benriach 11 yo 1994/2005 peated #805 vs Benriach 28 yo 1984/2013 peated PX cask for ‘Independent Spirit’ #1050
More Benriach, a rather good whisky that ought to be drunk more than it is, especially the single casks editions.
Benriach 11 yo 1994/2005 peated #805 46%
Nose: Peated malt bins, green apples, not salty but a earthy-organic compost-y rooty peat. Full of vegetal matter. Burning charcoal and woodsmoke. Also a rather buttery thick maltiness. Straightforward, does what it says it does, no flaws – the exuberence of malty youth yes but not a flaw. So yes, well drinkable. What? This was a sherry cask? Err.. Maybe 4th fill..
Palate: Exactly as promised, more big maltiness with big smokey peat all upfront here. Ash, sweet phenols, chewy and round, cereal sweetness with a light indistinct fruitiness. Actually rather good and no nonsense’.
Finish: Medium, woodsmoke, earth and malt.
Cheap and good. Will not disappoint. Hope we don’t find too much Jack Daniels in Benriach before long. (Recently bought over by Brown-Forman remember?)
Benriach 28 yo 1984/2013 peated PX cask for ‘Independent Spirit’ #1050 50.2%
Thanks Udo!
Nose: Ha. Thick syrupy and peaty with a whole array of scents to get through. This will be good. A mountain of worn out leather sofas, cedarwood, loads of rancio, and enough of that thick dry medicinals that I liken to chinese herbs. Only to be found with decent aging in good old sherry casks it seems. Old creaky oak, tobacco, some minty-pungent notes like wintergreen oil and then sweeter notes of jam, maybe something slighty fruitier too. Coal smoke, but the peat is rather heldback by the sherry here. Sound terrible but the whole is rather classic sherry plus peat.
Palate: Yes. Ok, it’s good but where does it start and where does it end, smokey buzz, sweet chewy jammy ‘oxidised’ fruit and roasty nuts. A bit of bacon? Some honey and a lot of heavy wood tannins peaking through. Cigarette ash, now becoming more laden with bitter-herbals, and surprise – that pungent green menthol really rears its head now. Peat? Not obvious at all.
Finish: Long, smoke, loads of oak, thick and dry purple sherry.
Much prefered the nose, still a great whisky – is it possible to jam any more flavours in here? You have the malt, the sherry and the peat, yes it comes together very well but it is a bit of a sensory overload.
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