BenRiach 15 Year Tawny Port Finish

This review is for the Hart Brothers Benriach 15 first port pipe filled, from K&L. Nose: Very sweet, grapes, cognac, strong port. Body: thick, viscous, smooth Finish: very sweet, long finish. more grapes. I like this, although it's one dimensional. If I had tasted this blind, I could have been convinced it was actually port (albeit super high proof). Reminds me of the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, which is a better value.

I reopened this Parafilm sealed bottle for the Christmas season and my god is this a fantastic whisky. I am a fan of BenRiach and this one for sure is amongst my favorites. I maintain my 4.25 rating from about a year ago when I last had it (and I rarely ever give ratings above 4) but it is just so delicious. This is dark ripe grape sweetness with a delicious spiciness along buttery vanilla cream, a lot of port soaked dark old wood and a lovely vibrant fruity dryness which gives it a crisp and bright side as well. But the silky texture just make this dangerously drinkable yet it has an insane complexity, richness and depth with that exiting young crispness as well. So sad this isn’t available anymore and hard to get on the secondary market. This would be a stable on my top shelf for sure if I just could get another bottle.

Very nice drop. Number 2 on the night after the Bowmore Double the Devil (a clear winner). Very strong honey note, berry creme brulee. Port takes the back seat here. I have a feeling like most Benriachs it would deteriorate pretty quickly once the bottle is open as it doesn't have a lot of oily body to hold back oxegenation of the flavor

I was looking for this one for quite some time because I really much like BenRiach so far. I had their PX cask previously but I put in the extra buck to get a bottle of this one which is also part of BenRiach's special wood-finish series. And it is worth it. Really is. While the PX is good, this Tawny Port is quite a bid better. It has the nice richness of the regular 16y plus some very present dark, fruity and mature port aroma, that hits you directly when poured into a glas. NOSE: marzipan, fresh brown sour apple juice, dark honey mead, mulled wine, mango, ripe black currant & dark gooseberries - all sweet and at the same time equally sour. There is no obvious alcohol present and it is very smooth on the nose. Also - I don't know if you know it - there is something called "fruit leather", which is basically dried fruits, that you put into a blender, roll out and let dry to create a leather-like product. This Tawny Port whisky smells like this kind of fruit leather made from fresh dark red sour apple plus some other orchard fruits. PALATE: It definitely is a medium old BenRiach, which is really well expanded with this port finish. It is gentle and smooth in the beginning, and you still don't get much distraction of it its 46% ABV. After a short while you definitely get the wood from the cask which "tells" you a story about its history in bourbon oak. Then you also get the port wood again with some fruity sour sensation and mild bitterness, which joins together nicely. FINISH: The only little downside is that the port intensity doesn't stay very long and what remains is the oak characteristics and a very mild sourness, which tells you that the Tawny Port finish wasn't all too long I assume. The stronger this special cask-finish is present first on the nose and mid-way through the palate, the less it remains in the finish. All in all this is very enjoyable and something special. You find yourself thinking "Yeah, this one is really good" while drinking ... "Was it really that good?" ... "Yeah ok it is still really nice indeed." It definitely reflects Speyside characteristics and with this smoothness and mature fruity flavours makes a perfect evening dram ... or two.