BenRiach 10 Year

Meaningless taste, do not buy this one again

Pleasant malty undertones that get entirely blown out by a racy fruitiness - almost rye-like with a foul flavored finish

Good but not great, yummy but not delicious. I enjoyed this with my friends at a poker game.

Nose: Cereal forward and fresh, with barley malt supported by lemon and apricot. There's a pleasant fat oiliness to the aroma, and as it rests and unfolds the fragrance of cinnamon and ginger boiled sweets arises. There's also a prominent sweet musky note. Palate: Oily and creamy, very full and sweet (but not cloying at all) but somewhat unfocused. As it develops there are sweet nutty flavours (hazelnut? almond?), some citrus zest and a dominant honey-malt character. Some mild sweet/spicy cereal notes like seed cake supporting it all. Finish: Short. Slightly spicy and malty with a touch of white pepper in the finale. I liked the nose on this a lot. It's both approachable but also complex and it has an elusive floral character (but it's not what I'd call a "floral whisky"). However with a dash of water the sweet musky character disappears and the nose becomes weak cereal/citrus in nature. The palate is good, but not as notable as the nose, and it lacks a solid foundation. There is a melange of sweet, oily and slightly spicy flavours but it's rather mild and a bit generic. It gave me the impression that it did not know what sort of whisky it was supposed to be. Imagine a mixture of Aberlour A'bunadh and Springbank 10 that was then mixed 50/50 with neutral grain spirit. Any amount of dilution kills the palate stone dead - this is a gentle, delicate whisky - almost fragile - and it drowns at the mere sight of water. I strongly recommend taking it neat. "Good" : 3.5 stars