Rating: 15/23 N: Sweet fruits with a bit of minerality and kind of a floral lightness. There's a bit of a flat, dry woodiness that I'm starting to associate with Benromach, as well as some mild, musty distillate funk from what I presume are dirty stills, and a bit of smoke floating through. In the fruits, I get light cherry with a bit of orange rind. This is not a very full or complex nose and the balance is a bit off, but it's fine. Initially, I didn't notice it, but there's some smoke on the nose here. It's not a ton, but it's actually fairly substantial. P: Pretty fruity with lots of baking spices. Lots of cinnamon and ginger with some cloves as well and just a hint of rainbow peppercorn. Initially, the fruit is stronger, but then the spice grows. The fruit is largely sweet cherry, but it's a tad floral with faint minerality. There's also a bitter backing that I was initially attributing entirely to wood, but I now think it might be a little wood with some substantial smoke. The sherry carries a bit of PX funk to it. I like the fruitiness here, but this isn't all that complex or well-integrated. There's some potential to the Benromach funk and the wine cask finish was a good choice, but this product needs some substantial refinement. F: Faint cherry with mild vanilla sweetness and just the rarest note of cinnamon or ginger. Occasional remembrances of the wood. Mostly, it's just a flat smoke layer though. - Conclusion - This is a good start, but it's too young. It's a bit more approachable than Benromach 15 (13/23), but I think that the Benromach 15 is a bit better overall with its greater maturity and complexity. Monkey Shoulder is a bit better balanced than this is, but it also has a lot more ethanol. So my first impression was that this was better than Benromach 15, then I thought it was worse. Now, with the Monkey Shoulder to help in the comparison, I think that this is better. I think I spent a while wanting to give the Benromach more credit than it was due because I could taste more maturity in it, but the balance was always off and it was never enjoyable to drink. At some point, maturity and nuance just aren't the most important factors anymore. This doesn't seem a lot better than Monkey Shoulder. Dalmore 12 (15/23) shows a greater balance of malt with sherry and bourbon flavors. At the same time, this has some greater complexity with its smoke, PX sherry (also, Oloroso), and bits of other funk. I'm increasingly confident that this beats Benromach 15. This really tastes like a youthful dram with potential to age, whereas Benromach 15 tastes more mature, but like it has gone a bit in the wrong direction. I'm also thinking that this is beating Monkey Shoulder. Dalmore 12? That's a tougher call. I think that means this is getting a 15.