BenRiach 20 Year (old label)

Sweet raisin, dried fruits, light smoke, burnt caramel

Nose: Fruity (pear and apple) and lightly malty - sweet and delicate rather than bold, with an almost confectionery note like bubblegum or boiled sweets in the foundation. There is a white grape juice note and over time as it rests this evolves into tinned tropical fruit-salad. There is a little creamy vanilla-tinged oak also apparent. Palate: Sweet, creamy, cereal arrival - exceptionally welcoming and easy. The development is slow and assured and over time there is a subtle broadening of the palate into deeper sweet cereal notes together with orchard fruits, baked pineapple and honey. The texture is voluptuous and enfolding. With time the palate gains body and a more malty quality. Finish: Medium/short. Sweet cereal and barley sugar with just a trace of honeyed oak and apple juice in the aftertaste. The nose bears a resemblance to some Irish whiskies I've tasted and over time as it rests in the glass it "blooms" and gains depth. The same thing happens with the palate which is unbelievably approachable on first sip and only improves with further tasting. Again, this reminds me a lot of quality soft Irish blended whisky - it's reminiscent of Midleton Very Rare, in fact. One of the delights of slowing down my whisky purchasing is that I'm starting to delve into my stash and open bottles I've been sitting on for a while. I purchased this particular BenRiach in 2012 and the batch imprint says it was bottled on 2011/09/12, which means it was casked in 1991 and therefore produced prior to the mothballing (and subsequent closure) of the distillery's own floor maltings in 1998. This is easily the most approachable and stylish BenRiach I have ever tasted, and it is completely different in character to anything in the contemporary range. It certainly confirms the fact that the modern success of BenRiach is based squarely on the huge inventory of excellent old whisky that Billy Walker acquired when he bought the distillery. There has been a 20-year old expression of BenRiach since just after Walker bought the distillery in 2003. Up until 2018 these would all have been blended from pre-mothballing stocks, but the expressions went through significant profile changes over time and the contemporary "dark label" 20 year old bears no resemblance to this or any of the other old "blue-on-white label" bottlings. For this reason I created a new listing here on Distiller for the earlier bottlings. It is an elegant, soft and demure whisky but it is neither shy nor lacking in character. She is a lady of maturity and poise, and should be treated as such. Do not dilute her - let her manifold charms enthrall you, au natural. The price quoted is what I paid in 2012 - it would now only be available on the secondary market, probably at several times that price. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)