Fable Chapter Four - Benrinnes 12 Year Old 2009

Sorry, had to duck out for a moment. Back this evening to finish off this Fable series. Chapter One introduced the The Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay with the ‘Clanyard town’ themed release of Cool Ila. Chapter Two focuses on the Folk of Clanyard with a Linkwood 12. Chapter Three looks to the Moon with Dailuaine 11. Chapter Four is about ‘the Bay’ with a Benrinnes 12 year old. “There where jarring waves met rugged Bay, stood a gaping, hollow cave”. Chapter Four has seen 16 releases going back to distillate produced in 2008 through to 2011. All are Benrinnes distillates matured in ex-bourbon refill hogsheads and released as single cask expressions at cask strength. The different releases range from 82-310 bottles each and have different global markets. This evening I am drinking the 4th release (cask number 301911) distilled 23/02/2009 and aged 11 years. 309 bottles were filled at 60.2% on 27/07/2021 and released to the Australian, Israeli, German, and UK markets. N: A little more depth than previous chapters, darker and more ‘brooding’. There is some char here and a warm waxy citrus, lightly chocolatey the malt is quite rich and with a gently enticing woody spice and pencil shavings. The longer I’ve sat with it I start to get a gristy presence; but its not out of place. P: A somewhat full and nutty mouthfeel. Lots of malt with a slightly cured meat spice to it. An odd one for sure. But, I think that might be about it. Is there a light touch of apple juice and toasted coconut, maybe? I’m struggling to get anything much, the second the mouthfeel clears in the opening moments it seems to fade to latent barrel spice. F: Medium. Plenty of oak spice and a malty, yeasty wholesome presence. Nothing exciting, but quite a comforting warmth none the less. A touch of water muted the nose, added a milky cinnamon presence to the spice on the finish, and slightly brightens the palate to lift off a juicier fruit body. Wish I would have done that from the start. Still though, its an odd liquid. I’m starting to think Speyside, whilst classic, is dull. Hopefully one of my betters reading this can educate my rank amateurness and direct me to better. I just don’t get it though. Speyside does a malty profile, I get it. What I don’t get is how a company building off the back off the most remarkable story telling and illustrations can bottle three straight (and I suspect a fourth to follow) malt boredoms. The nose here is inviting and I willed it to deliver more, but sadly I couldn’t find it. Honestly, The gaping hollow cave, appears to be empty. Distiller whisky taste: #189 No rock picture for this Fable, just the bottle art. Check out the full story on my Chapter One and Chapter Two tastes. Fable running scores: Chapter 1 - Caol Ila 10, 2010: 2.5/5 Chapter 2 - Linkwood 12, 2010: 2.5/5 Chapter 3 - Dailuaine 11, 2010: 2.75/5 Chapter 4 - Benrinnes 12, 2009: 2.5/5