BenRiach 14 year 2005 Rum Cask exclusive Australian bottling

Whisky Tasting : The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 14 January 2021. Whisky #4 Nose: Sherry, raisins, tropical fruit, musky rockmelon, apricot, coconut, malt extract. No intrusive alcohol presence at all. The nose blooms magnificently over time. It is not syrupy but the rum cask contributes a deep oak-wood background and a brown sugar/molasses aroma that develops into an immense presence after an hour in the glass. The dry-glass is all rancio and treacle. Palate: Huge arrival. Dark fruits (stewed figs, dates soaked in rum, plum pudding), dark malt extract and leatherwood honey. Instantly impressive and commanding. The texture is sumptuous and mouth-coating with a little heat and spice (clove, cinnamon and nutmeg). Finish: Long. Rich sherried fruit notes fading into the distance with a hint of vanilla. This tasting was from an expression exclusively bottled for The Oak Barrel in 2020 so it will not be available outside Australia. If you search online you will find several “Benriach 14 year old 2005” whiskies but be aware that although the labels look similar at first glance the spirits differ considerably. This Oak Barrel bottling was from an ex-rum cask but others include expressions from sauternes, oloroso and PX cask maturation. @Jan-Case reviewed the Netherlands oloroso cask bottling here a couple of months ago. In this case the rum cask produced just 102 bottles which is a very small outturn so it must have been a pretty loose cask but the intense interaction this allowed was fortuitous. It created a big, soft, intensely flavourful whisky and it’s easily one of the best rum-cask maturations I’ve tasted, and also one of the best BenRiach expressions I’ve come across. The nose blooms with a drop of water as fragrant floral notes spring from the musky background. Water also evolves the palate by contributing greater depth but it does not turn overly spicy. This whisky loves to develop and is very good after 90 minutes. The single fault I found (if indeed it is a fault) is that there is no great progression in the palate. What you get up-front in the arrival is pretty much the whole story. The palate gains depth but it is all an elaboration of the initial theme, with no new melodies introduced. It’s kind of a “rum-monster” in the same way that Aberlour A’bunadh is a “sherry-monster”. Unfortunately this tasting was also from the last bottle in existence. When it was still in stock the price was $220 and if it had been available on the night I would gladly have paid that to obtain one. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)