Benromach 15 Year

Benromach has been a little dissapointing lately. I have had a few of their new expressions (with their new image and marketing), and it weren't as good as the old ones, with the almost flourescent boxes that showed a drop in the bottles. I have now tasted this 15yo release, that won its category on 2018's Workd whiskies awards. Bottled at 43%. On the nose, a nice mix between fruits and peat. Pears, grapefruit, stewed fruits, incense. After a first sip, i got melon, leather and hay. On the palate, starts with a chocolate; a little salty, pears and very nice grapefruit. Aftertaste was the best part. Smokey notes, hay, grassy notes. Tobacco leaf. Some sweet glazed pork finish, ginger and ashes. Very elegant. Overall, this was a little better than some of their new expressions (with the non-so-appealing white labels), specially on the aftertaste where the peatiness was right on the spot. It still is miles away from most great 15yo whiskies. My score for it is 86 over 100.

On the nose, light smoke and honey sweetness. Also something herbal, like fresh tobacco leaves, some wood spice and a light alcohol prickle. On the palate, bread and cereals, and more spice. Lingering smoke, but never dominant. Warm and long finish. I would guess a higher ABV, perhaps due to the bold flavors. Really interesting dram. Would definitely buy this again.