Benromach Organic

*My bottle: Distilled 2010, bottled 2017. Nose: Malted barley, butterscotch, vanilla, leather, some very fine fresh oak and a touch of tobacco. There's a heathery note as well. A very crisp nose. Palate: Dry and bittersweet arrival, intensely cereal and malty - like munching down on a handful of freshly milled grist. A light cereal sweetness, and adding water brings out more sweetness and a spiciness from the grain that is otherwise completely hidden. Such an unrelentingly cereal palate! Finish: Short. Soft, clean, and ... hey, where did it go? This has a clearer and more cereal nose than any other Benromach I've tasted, and with a drop of water it blooms and promises a refreshing and crisp palate. That it certainly is, but there is also delicacy to the point of shyness. Some light aromas and flavours flash about but there is an overall lack of character. Maybe it's too refined for a rough old codger with taste buds burnt out after years of whisky drinking? There's certainly nothing unpleasant about it, and it does have a kind of austere sophistication. The nose is very nice, the palate crisp and dry and the finish sweet, simple and short. It's the whisky equivalent of a dry white wine that is so icy clean it almost tastes like water. Unfortunately I like my whiskies with a bit more personality, even if they are sometimes uncouth and not fit for genteel company. (I am led to believe that the 2010 batch is different in profile to the earlier expressions). In the final analysis this strikes me as being like a refined Glenmorangie Original or Glenfiddich 12. Well made, clean, poised, but best used as a safe everyday tipple or the first baseline malt of a tasting session. I cannot begin to comprehend the official score of 95 given to this when the 15 Year Old and Peated expressions are so clearly superior. I wish I could give this more, because sitting here with the very pleasant light aftertaste it leaves I have a positive impression, and I can imagine many whisky drinkers would appreciate its qualities more than I, however in the end, I'm just not that impressed. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)