Jan-Case
BenRiach 15 year Madeira Wood Finish
Single Malt — Scotland
Reviewed
February 12, 2021 (edited March 19, 2023)
My favorite Distillery. I have quite a few bottles in my collection but over the last 15 years they released so many so very different bottlings, it is nearly impossible to get them all - even just as a sample. Their new lineup so far only consists of 7 different bottlings. Two 10y, two 12y, 21y, 25y and 30y. I’m looking forward to what else they gonna come up with. But for now I try to get my hands on a few remaining samples of their outlived bottles.
This one here is part of their wood finish line. I have a bottle of the 15y Tawny Port which is one of my favorite port whiskies I ever had. So I’m curious what Madeira wine does which the same age whisky.
Citrus and bitter lemon on the nose. Bright crispy caramel flakes on top of red berries. Hard cookies. The nose is fresh and only slightly sweet. The red wine only lingers on the very top of the aromas.
The palate has actually a really dry red wine taste right from the start. It takes a while for it become a bid more oily and a little winy sweet. Very clear on the palate. Interesting but not very diversified.
The finish is long and rich yet still dry but not in an intrusive way.
Enjoyable whisky but maybe a little underperforming. This would make for a perfect vatting whisky. They already use it in some of their new lineup bottles so it is nice to see one separate part of that.
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@Benji-Robert yeah the US prices are crazy. I mean you get good stuff that is well composed but - what is it? - 750$ for the 30y - that’s a head scratcher for sure. When I dug into the 21 later this year I will hope to find out what that range is all about and if the Christmas bottle could be the 25 or 30, which would be shared with my dad ... hopefully not 50/50 ;)
@Jan-Case great writing as usual. when I saw the prices on the new extra-aged offerings you mention, I had a big frown.
@CKarmios I agree. I also like the new design as well as their vattings. I have the new 21 as well but the 25 and 30 are a bid over my budget for now. There also is one new bottle on the horizon called “Malting Season First Edition”. Not information about it yet except for it being a small batch and limited. Would be interesting to see what that will be but it looks like an annual release which I would really like to see.
In these days of ‘distillery noise’, Benriach cleaning up their line is refreshing (even dropped that capital R silliness in the middle of their name). It’ll make limited releases even more appreciated. Bought a bottle of Curiositas for old days sake 😀