ctbeck11
Benriach The Original Ten
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
January 11, 2022 (edited January 16, 2022)
Nose - apple juice, pear, honey, cereal grain, sulphur, orange zest, apricot, caramel, vanilla, wet grass, allspice, light oak, mild to moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - apple juice, honey, ginger, pear, apricot, brine, cereal grain, butterscotch, vanilla, lemon pith, orange zest, grass, mint, cinnamon, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with honeyed fruit, ginger, and citrus flavors.
I’m now venturing into the world of unpeated BenRiach, starting with this new entry level offering, The Original Ten. Interestingly, it’s the only of the new releases bottled at 43%. The rest are at 46%.
The nose doesn’t inspire confidence. If I didn’t know better, I would think this was a mid shelf blended malt. It has the same apple juice quality you often find with them. Nice sherried, honeyed fruits appear, but there’s also an undercurrent of meaty, industrial sulphur. It’s not a total dealbreaker, but it’s noticeable and unwelcome. Fortunately, the palate gets things back on track. The sulphuric quality is kept in check with more of the focus on the citrusy, fruity, gingery flavors. The mouthfeel is thin and the finish is underwhelming.
This is just barely above average for me. It tastes young, a bit sour, and slightly bitter. At almost $70 a bottle near me, there’s no value to be found here. Next on deck is The Twelve. Hopefully it’s an improvement similar to the one found with The Smoky Twelve.
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@Ctrexman I’d be interested as well. Think I’ll let others answer that question. Probably won’t be shelling out for more BenRiachs anytime soon.
@ctbeck11 I had the old sherry finished which was quite good. I wonder if the newer version is better
@Jan-Case That’s fair. The only old one I’ve tried is Curiositas, which I liked more than the new 10 year. The others in the new range may be just as good or better than their discontinued counterparts.
@ctbeck11 I have to somewhat disagree. While I didn’t have this expression here, I have bottles of the new line of the 12y, the peated 12y and the peated 10y as well as the 21y. I find them all better than the releases they replaced. BenRiach is still one of my favorite Distilleries and I thankfully am liking the new bottlings even better than the old line. My favorite one (the 17y Tawny Port) though is still an old release that hasn’t be beaten by any other bottling I had.
@Ctrexman That’s my assumption as well. Unfortunately, that’s usually the case with revamps these days.
I think I had the previous version of this and liked it. It sounds like the quality across the line may have dropped just slightly