skillerified
Benriach The Smoky Twelve
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
August 25, 2021 (edited July 19, 2022)
N: Campfire smoke. Like, the smell on your clothes the morning after you built the campfire - that kind of smoke. Ash, tobacco, dry firewood. Vanilla, caramel, red fruit. Fresh pear and peach. Earth, pine, and a faint medicine note. Hard swirls release heavier and/or dried fruits: plum, raisins, dried apricot. Smoked vanilla.
P: Sweet red fruit, cinnamon candy, smoked chocolate. Campfire coffee, beef jerky, salt. Hint of teriyaki sauce - tangy, sweet soy, plus a dash of spice. Vanilla, caramel, buttered dinner rolls. Honey in weak tea. Allspice, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and dashes of other baking spices. A creamy marshmallow vanilla slides the pour into the finish. More baking spice, dried red fruit, dried stone fruit, dash of sweet oak. Light tannin bitterness. Light, but pleasant spiciness.
This is a gem. Perfectly balanced. Great complexity. Smoke, fruit, malt, wood, spice - all are well represented, add something to the dram, and are just about perfectly executed. Hard to ask for more. I only hold back from a perfect score because, as good as it is, I think there's one more gear beyond this that adds a certain WOW factor. This doesn't quite have that, but it's damn close. And a freakin' steal at ~$65. Blows away higher priced, older whiskies. Highly recommended.
63.0
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
This sounds like a winner. I really liked the Curiositas 10 so imagine this would be very similar