Benriach 2009 10yo cask #1647 Batch 16 Madeira cask

Nose: Strongly smoky, of the highland type. Not medicinal or coastal - more bonfire. Some winey notes in the background, but primarily smoky. Water changes the nose slightly, bringing out plastic aromas. Palate: Smoke on the arrival, rich and blanketing. Red berries and some faint jammy notes in the development. Again, adding water unleashes a lot of plastic notes and after a while the palate veers towards sourness. Take this one neat. Finish: Medium. Sweet and smoky with a little bitterness in the aftertaste, particularly when watered. An interesting smoky dram, but not one of great stature. The nose is very forceful when neat and certainly not constrained by the 59% abv. Water mellows it but at a cost. The palate is not of the same standard as the nose, and pretty average, really. BenRiach releases these cask strength, single cask expressions regularly. There were 24 in this Batch 16 release, with 12 only available in Europe, and 12 in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I don't believe there was any U.S. allocation. These batches always strike me more as interesting detours than anything else. Something to be enjoyed at tastings rather than purchased for pleasure, although that said I'm sure there are dedicated BenRiach collectors who eagerly await these releases and snap up the whole set. Many thanks to @Soba45 for sending me some samples of the latest batch, but this is the only one I'll be reviewing here. The nose is good, but the palate only average. I'm splitting the difference and scoring it at 3.25. "Above Average" : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

So so on this one. Peat was very brash and forceful. Averagely rated on the night.