BenRiach 21 Year

Ginger. Cinnamon. Orange. Red fruit. Malt. Better with age since opened.

The aroma is complex - chocolate with red fruits, a winey feel of sweet grapes, sweet barley, and many other things in the background. The taste is light, fine chocolate with a very sweet feel of light sweet berries, again sweet barley, a little toffee, and cream. The finish is light, creamy, medium long. A feeling of cashews and fine barley remains.

Little to no nose. Smooth flavor, with a light smoke that doesnt overpower it. An almost wheat-like flavor

Rating: 18/23 This will be my 1400th Distiller tasting! N: Oily orange peel with malted barley that isn't all that sweet, faint roasted meat with a touch of char, full but restrained wood. I'm not impressed by this nose. It's fine, but not very complex, decadent, or interesting. P: Huge improvement! This has some burn up front, but it isn't harsh. It's sweet, with maltiness that brings in some caramel, but doesn't go over the top. It blends into sweet vanilla, with some baking spices (clove, cinnamon, and ginger) coming out. There's a touch of char in here as well. A little waxy orange peel. The palate is quite bold and fairly balanced, with a moderate complexity and very nice decadence. It's a very clean profile, aside from that touch of char. F: Lingering vanilla maltiness and burn. It's not a super bold finish. Hints of waxiness and the faintest cherry. Really, a forgettable finish. - Conclusion - This is a delightful dram. I think it could do with a little mellowing, so I'll be interested to try it again in 6 months. It's easy to drink now though and is quite decadent as well. I had thought that this was 43% ABV, but tasting it it seemed more like 46%. Turns out it is. I can imagine this being a bit more approachable and decadent at a lower ABV, but this works quite well. McIvor 17 (16/23) has more of an oily nuttiness and smoothness. This is also less musty. Honestly, I might have guessed that he McIvor was older, but that could be due to it having months to oxidize. Glenfarclas 25 (23/23) has much more of a scotchy funk to it and Christmas cake flavors. It's far richer than this. Lismore 21 (19/23) is mellower and lighter than this is, with more subtle flavor. This tastes like it needs an edge taken off in comparison. For a far-out comparison, I pulled out my bottle of Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered (18/23). It burns more and is a bit lighter, but it's quite elegant. This strikes me as slightly better. Westward American Single Malt Single Barrel Cask Strength (Mission pick) (18/23) is bolder with a more unique decadence that gradually adds nuance. I think that these two are quite close, but I also think that I underrated the Westward. I do suspect that the Westward is the winner here though. I'm going with a 19. This is delightful, but perhaps not everything one might hope it would be. And it certainly isn't worth the price (though I don't regret buying it). I like being able to taste the multiple cask characters, but I wish it came together more. Eh, I'm going to give it an 18.

A little intense to start but opens up very nicely. Warm and flavoursome.