Benriach 25 Year

Representing speyside Lossie river Nose: light sherry, light caramel, grass, vanilla, malt, light honey Body: light Palate: honey, very light pepper, refined, light oak Finish: short and sweet Note: very good maybe not as good as the classic 21.

The eldest of the unpeated BenRiachs from my recent tasting event has a nose of freshly cut red apples. Like much of the range, its flavors start off soft, sweet and creamy. This one though takes a fruity turn mid-palate and then glides into a long vanilla finish, with a bit of oak spice. Exceptional blending ensures the flavors sing in harmony and shine in their individual spotlights.

Benriach tasting evening, Sydney, June 24 2019. Whisky #3 Nose: Tight. Tighter than a fish's clacker. This needs an hour minimum in the glass before it even thinks about opening up. Once the process (finally) starts you get tropical fruits, dark dried fruits, muscavado sugar, honey, red apple, a smidge of vanilla and a smear of rather nice aromatic oak. Palate: Tropical fruit and some tingly oak spices lead the palate, followed by several types of sugar and honey, dark fruit (plums, semi-dried figs, moist dates), cocoa, grapefruit and orange peel, ripe peaches and milk chocolate. The arrival starts a little sharp but very quickly gentles down as it continues through into the finish. The texture is just a little oily. Finish: Medium/long. Lingering fruit and cereal lead into a lightly drying aftertaste. The finish lengthens considerably as the whisky sits in the glass and opens. This whisky pre-dates the decommissioning of the floor maltings in 1998 (sob!) but whether its quality is due to the spirit being produced from 100% in-house malt or whether it's just aged well, who knows. Maturation was mostly in ex-bourbon but about a quarter of the spirit was matured in ex-red wine casks. In general the palate is similar to the 21 year old expression but here it is considerably more full and rounded and has a voluptuous and enticing character. The profile is an interesting combination of dulcet and woody. I'd not been particularly impressed with BenRiachs I'd tasted in the past, but this whisky definitely made me feel that I'd finally found a satisfying expression. At the asking price it's just on the borderline of value for money, but I'd not buy a bottle myself. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

licorice, oatmeal, and plum. oily. not bad but a bit weak.