Benromach 15 Year

A- Amber +2, high viscosity N- feinty, sweaty ( did I order a cheese platter?) , yeasty ( again did I also order a meat platter ?) wow and I am just getting starting with this one and in the back end hints of honey and vanilla, literally I am nosing a charcuterie platter P- sweaty/ yeasty arrival, cheese and prosciutto everywhere, full, rich, coating, sweet ( honey, vanilla), briny, salty, dry oak F- medium- long finish, sweaty- yeasty- sweet aftertaste C- wow this is a first for me, glad that I tried this one way advance in my whiskey journey, complex profile but weird, dirty, good and different. Please if you are starting your journey do not start with this dram!

I've been tucking into the Benromach 15 for a few months now, and wow, it's special. I couldn't quite put my finger on why initially, but after doing some digging (and catching the awesome Spirit of Toronto Benromach tasting last month) I suspect it partially has to do with the lower cut points in the distillation process. For their core range, Benromach doesn't cut their spirit over to the feints receiver until it reaches 60% ABV (much lower than average), and when you collect more distillate in this spectrum for maturation you start to get those hard-to-describe "feinty" notes, which I crave in a whisky: Leather, plastic, honey, dried tea and tobacco. It's heavenly. Another unique thing about the distillery is that they use some brewer's yeast in the fermentation process, which produces a cloudy wort and gives the distillate a malty structure that you can pick up across the nose, palate and finish. They also produce their malt to a peat level of 12 ppm, which compliments the sherry casks nicely. Nose: loads of red fruit - rasberries and stewed cherries come to mind; Frosted Cherry Pop Tarts; Caramilk bar, Maltesers; smoked fruit wood, BBQ sauce; jump rope handles, Tupperware, shoe polish; leather bound library books, distressed leather book bag; antique cello in a dusty old case Palate: Very malty, Maltesers, milk chocolate, subtle sweetness, slightly pulling and tannic from the sherried oak Finish: Medium, sweet and malty with a solid breath of smoke Memory: Procrastinating through the bookstacks of the John W. Graham Library at Trinity College while eating a chocolate bar for dinner that I got from the vending machine. Score: 88

All the fruit and oak taste of a typical Speyside but with added smoky peat that is not overpowering.

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@wf22