Tastes

I wasn’t particularly enamored of Benriach’s Curiositas 10, the previous iteration of its peated entry-level whisky, and the new Smokey version does nothing to convince me that the distiller’s fruity spirit plays well with peat. Blender Rachel Barrie has added Jamaican rum casks to the mix alongside the bourbon and virgin oak, but I found it hard to detect any influence. The smoke on the nose is delicate but not interesting enough on its own to compensate for the way it smothers the fruity spirit so well expressed in the Original 10. The same is true on the palate, which is dominated by a spicy smoke. The finish has a hint of watery toffee. My least favorite of the new range.

I write this from quarantine in London, where I arrived a couple of days ago to visit family. Despite everyone on my flight having to get a rapid covid test at Newark airport before boarding, the rules dictate that I sequester myself for 14 days with only online grocery orders and a backlog of tasting packs from the Whisky Show to keep me sustained. Okay, the whisky isn’t strictly part of the rules, but there’s only so much time I can fill with work, TV, books and video games. First up are the new Benriachs: the 10- and the 12-year and their Smokey iterations. There’s more than a couple of years and a dose of peat to differentiate these four bottles, which replace similar ones in the core range. Each also features a different mix of barrels from the riotous palette that blender Rachel Barrie has at her disposal in the Benriach warehouses. The Original 10, to give the new version its full name, features bourbon, sherry and virgin oak casks and has a smidgen of peat, so it’s more than just a rebranding of the previous version, which was bourbon, sherry and no peat. It’s a fruity dram, with crisp green apples and a touch of honey on the nose. The palate is green apples and lemon juice while the medium length finish leans towards lemon rind, with a hint of oak spice and smoke. A very pleasant whisky and my second favorite of the four.

Another Christmas cracker of a whisky from Paul John, a distillery that just gets better and better in my estimation. Your Yuletide in a glass begins with the aromas of warm crackling spices and a heady drop of stewed fruit. A mouthful of mango and orange keeps this annual special edition firmly within the house style of the Goan stills, though the flavor feels amped up from the regular releases despite the modest ABV. The finish is long and warm, with a hint of peat and blood orange. I typically prefer Paul John’s unpeated releases because they let the tropical flavors shine, but the mix of casks here works excellently. A close second to the 2018 release and a notch above 2019’s.

Rich, creamy, minty. Goes down smoothly neat.

My sample came from an edition released for the 20th anniversary of the Whisky Exchange and bottled at 56.8%. There’s a lovely burning match flavor on the nose and palate, followed by a tangy sweetness and a slightly dry finish. Not especially complex but a satisfying dram that ticks the boxes on the label.

This is my favorite of the single farm releases for the European market that I’ve tried. Like many of the others, the nose transports you to an Irish dairy farm smelling of cream and damp hay. You can smell the soil on this one too and a pleasant hint of sulphur. The palate is creamy with a hint of saline — a salty lassi, I guess — while the finish takes a turn to sour fruit chews. The malted barley shines throughout. This wasn’t the most popular of the European releases, but for my money it’s the most interesting and the one I’d want to return to alongside the Gaia. Probably sold out in its 1.1 iteration, but keep an eye out for its sequel.

Six things about Waterford: 1 - It’s not an Irish whisky, it’s a malt whisky made in Ireland. 2 - It’s made in Ireland because its owners believe the country has the best barley in the world. 3 - They are launching an insane number of different bottles in their first year of releases - dozens showcasing barleys from individual farms. 4 - For a barely legal whisky, it tastes remarkably and consistently good, based on my sampling of several European and US exclusives and this global release, not to mention two eminently drinkable varieties of new make. 5 - If you like the funky flavors of a good Springbank or a stinky cheese, you’ll enjoy the subtle barnyard aroma of many of the initial Waterford releases. 6 - Moreover, if you really want to sink your senses into the debate over whether barley, soil and all things “terroir” make a difference in whisky, then get yourself a selection of their single farm bottlings and compare the differences. Even the two new makes I tried were noticeably different. Of the ones I tried, my favorite of the European releases was the Ballykilcavan. It smells like a dairy farm: cream, barnyard, a hint of sulphur and soil. The palate is creamy and salty and the finish turns to sour fruit chews. The American single farm releases were slightly sweeter and for me were overshadowed by Gaia, a global release distilled from organic barley sourced from six farms rather than one. My tasting notes aren’t great, but the nose is lashings of custard, with a hint of barnyard to add complexity. The predominant flavor is creamy too, with a fizzy sherbet note. Regardless, I liked it enough to buy a bottle, which isn’t something I do often now. Whatever the method in their madness, Waterford is clearly onto something good.

I'm not a big Deanston fan but this US exclusive is one of their best expressions I've had. The tangy fruity distillate works really well with the dusty cocoa and cream notes from the stout cask finish. The are no harsh notes despite the youth of the spirit -- six or so years -- and it goes down smoothly neat or with a drop of water. At a mere $65 a bottle, I'd take this over one of their well-aged wine-cask finishes any day.

This is a new entry level whisky from Stranahan, which will be revamping its range in coming months. It’s a respectable introduction to the distillery. The nose combines cola cubes with light aromas of pineapple and tinned mandarin slices. Soft tinned fruit syrup flavors in the mouth and a gentle finish make the initial batch of this 4-5 year old blend a pleasant easy sipper. At a price that undercuts many entry-level Scotch whiskies in the US, this is yet more proof that American single malt has found a sustainable footing.