BenRiach Sherry Wood 12 Year

Benriach tasting evening, Sydney, June 24 2019. Whisky #1 Nose: Sherry, but with a slightly drying quality, vanilla (lots of vanilla), fragrant cereal, sawdusty aromatic oak, resinous oak, golden syrup, marzipan. Palate: Initially soft but instantly flashing into a hot and spicy arrival with a sharp, almost vinegar quality! Ginger, white pepper and chilli turn up quickly afterwards in the early development and remain throughout the palate. After a while some grape flavours are noticeable. With water some dark toffee notes emerge and the grape notes morph into dried fruits. There is a nutty quality as well (walnuts, hazelnuts). Finish: Medium. Grape, cereal and a slightly bitter spicy aftertaste. After a hiatus of three years BenRiach restored the 12 year sherried expression to the core range, however this is quite different to the old version - sufficiently so as to warrant a new entry here on Distiller. The wood management has changed, but in a rather confusing manner. The old version was fully matured in oloroso and PX casks - simple enough. This new version rests in "sherry wood" (whatever that means) and is then finished in oloroso and PX casks. I'm assuming that a lack of casks means they have expanded their stock by re-coopering barrels that once held a variety of sherries. The dry profile of this dram certainly hints at some fino and amontillado presence. I shiver to imagine what the new make of this whisky would have been like. It must have been ferociously hot, because after 12 years of conditioning this is still quite brutal on first acquaintance. It does modulate with time ... but only a little and water is really essential to tame it. Dilution brings out pleasant cereal aromas on the nose, quietens the resinous oak, and develops brown sugar aromas. It also softens the palate considerably - the white pepper spice remains but the chilli note is muted and it develops a pleasant earthy quality. In comparison to the earlier 12 year old (which was generally popular but also not without its faults) this is different, but similar enough to be given the same rating. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)