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Monday, February 25, 2013

Single Malt Report: BenRiach Taste Off, Part 1 (Un-peated)

BenRiach's malting floors were closed in 1999 after 101 years of use.  The Chivas-run distillery then began buying their barley malt from large suppliers, the same way that over 90% of the other Scottish malt distilleries do.  Once the distillery was purchased by Billy Walker and The BenRiach Distillery Company, they set out to reopen their own malting floors.  Finally, within the next few months, BenRiach is going to become the seventh distillery to do its own malting.

This is just one example of the smart aggressive choices made by the folks in charge of BenRiach's whisky.  When Billy Walker and company bought the mothballed distillery from Chivas (via Pernod), they found whisky of varying quality in the warehouses.  They needed to get some product back on the shelves, and some of the malt clearly needed some sprucing up, thus the countless finished single malts they've released.

But they also found some experimental stuff, including heavily peated whisky as well as triple-distilled spirit.  Other than the "Heart of Speyside" bottling, all of the malt in the BenRiach releases was casked by the previous ownership.  And it's not half bad.

I'm not the biggest fan of finished whisky -- I went through a bottle of BenRiach's 16yr Sauternes Finish last year and though it didn't suit my palate I don't doubt it would make Sauternes fans happy -- so I decided to avoid any PX or rum or Rioja finished stuff and focus on the more basic BenRiach malt.

I bought BenRiach's "Classic and Peated" mini four-pack last year and I'm just tearing into it now.  It held the 12yr, 16yr, 10yr Curiositas (peated), and 21yr Authenticas (peated) single malts.  I've split them into two Taste Offs, peated and unpeated, so that I can focus on the malt itself.

A brief note of commentary:  A company that cranks out finished whisky after special release after finished whisky doesn't instill much confidence in their basic naked malt.  As stated above, I know the malt whisky they're working with wasn't distilled by the current ownership, but is BenRiach going to continue tarting up the spirit when it is created by their own hands?  I suppose if it sells, they will.  I can't begin to know what they found when they started going through the casks nine years ago nor what's hiding behind all of those colorful additional maturations.  But I must say that their basic malts shouldn't be ignored.




DistilleryBenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company
Age: minimum 12 years
Bottled in: 2009
Maturation: 60% ex-bourbon (mostly second-fill) casks only + 40% ex-bourbon casks then transfered to ex-oloroso casks
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Alcohol by Volume: 43% (some bottlings are 46%)

Yes, this is my second report on BenRiach 12.  The first one was completed almost exactly a year ago. It was sampled in a loud dark bar and I was mostly just enjoying rather than deconstructing.  Here at home, I now had a full 50mL to sample in a Glencairn glass.

NEAT:
The color is light gold.  If they're applying caramel coloring, there appears to be a minimum of it.  The nose leads with apple juice, then ripe bananas, blueberries, and vanilla follow.  A pleasant dose of flower blossoms appears at times.  But mostly an almost-effervescent burst of lemon-lime soda catches the most attention.  Overall, it's a very pretty nose.  The palate is much simpler.  Vanilla, sugary white fruits, and notebook paper are the most prevalent.  The highlights that peek out are cream puffs and pipe tobacco.  The medium-length finish is sweet, desserty, and malty.  Vanilla and shortbread cookies nestle within some light tartness.

WATER ADDED:
As I often find with younger ex-bourbon matured whiskys, adding water brings out a lot of oak vanillins in the nose while all of those great fruits recede.  The palate and finish become mildly cheerful like a decent 40% blend.  Aside from all the vanilla, there's some black pepper and notebook paper.




DistilleryBenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company
Age: minimum 16 years
Bottled in: 2008
Maturation: 60% ex-bourbon casks only + 40% ex-bourbon casks then finished 4-5 years in ex-oloroso casks
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Alcohol by Volume: 43% (some bottlings are 46%)

NEAT:
The color is slightly darker than the 12yr, probably due to more time in the two oaks.  The nose has some dry sherry, but actually sniffs more like a late harvest sauvignon blanc.  It has the vanilla and apple juice notes of the 12yr, while there's some nice lemon peel adding to it.  The palate is much oakier (duh).  Toffee, caramel, and vanilla lead the way.  Here and there are notes of cayenne pepper and butter.  The silky finish is longer than than the 12's, full of vanilla, butter, and butterscotch.  It slowly progresses from sweet to peppery.

WATER ADDED:
Adding some water ironically dries it out in the mouth.  There are some pepper, malt, dark chocolate, and dry grass notes in the nose and palate, while the finish sweetens up some.



First off, my apologies that I didn't get proper mini bottle pics.

Secondly, these minis were of the 43% ABV variety.  Would they have benefited from another 3 percentage points of alcohol?  Absolutely.  Somewhere out there (the US perhaps?) these guys are bottled at 46%.

Thirdly, rankings:
NOSE -- 12 year, by a considerable margin
PALATE -- A draw!
FINISH -- 16 year
OVERALL -- 12 year

I've been finding that I'm much more of nosing man.  Out of context, that could be interpreted many ways.  In context: I really enjoy just sitting around and smelling the hell out of my whisky.  Probably looks goofy, but that's what's most fun in my whisky experience.

Here, with these two unpeated BenRiachs, the younger one had the most to say in its nose.  The spritely floral elements may have been the distillate still speaking through the years of oak.  The elder's nose was quieter, the spirit becalmed by the wood.  The palates were both mild, likable but not rave-able.  Perhaps the ownership saw this element as a canvas, an opportunity to paint brightly with all sorts of wine-d woods.

The 16 year old can be found for incredible prices overseas, similar to the 12 year's price in some California shops.  But if I -- putting my new purchasing policies into place -- was able to obtain the 12 and the 16 for similar prices, I would buy the 12.  Previously I would have gone straight for the 16 since it would be a great deal.  But it's the 12 that I actually like (in two reports so far!), so I would leave the bargain for someone else.

12 YEAR
Availability - Many liquor specialists
Pricing - $45-55 in the US, though better deals can sometimes be found; $50-55 for Americans having it shipped from overseas in a larger order
Rating - 85

16 YEAR
Availability - Some liquor specialists
Pricing - $68-80 in the US; $60-80 for Americans having it shipped from overseas in a larger order
Rating - 80

9 comments:

  1. I'm kicking myself for not buying one of those mini packs from Hi-Time when they were still available. Hopefully I can still find them in Seattle the next time I'm up there.

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    1. They're a great deal if you can find them! There's a Classic pack and a Peated pack. I went with the Peated one. Wally's Wines in LA might still have one. Single Malts Direct and Whisky Exchange have 'em (but, oy, the shipping). Happy hunting!

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  2. Something I never realized until Benriach announced the new 10 year old was the fact that all their whisky was produced by the old regime (except that Heart of Speyside bottling). The amount of work Billy Walker and company put into the distillery made me think they had bought the place years ago but in reality it was only 2004. So the new 10 year old made entirely by the new owners is the big milestone.

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    1. Yeah, I think this is going to be fun, seeing how Walker's own BenRiach and GlenDronach stuff turn out. I am going to remain optimistic until I personally experience any reason to feel otherwise.

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    2. While I find the 12 year old Benriach to be pretty good whisky, I don't think I will miss it when the 10 replaces it. Especially if they price it a bit lower. I have faith that if Billy Walker's people say the whisky is ready at 10 years, then it's ready.

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    3. Yeah, the 12 is good stuff. Hi-Time used to have it on sale for $37 last year and I stupidly missed out on stocking up. Though they still have a decent price on it, the 12 tends to be $50-$55 everywhere else now. I don't picture the 10 selling for less than $40 since that's the price for his younger Heart of Speyside.

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    4. Hi Michael. I have an email from the master distiller Billy Walker, at BenRiach stating that the 16 YO is 100% Ex-Bourbon cask matured with no sherry influence. Where do you get the ex-oloroso casks from???

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    5. Hi Reb. Let me take a look at my source books as soon as I have them unpacked (today or tomorrow, we're in the middle of a move). My maturation notes look very specific, just need to cite the source. Keep in mind, this review was of the old version of the 16. Walker & Co did a packaging reboot last year and may have changed the recipe as well.

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    6. Hi Reb. I finally found my source. Billy Walker to Gavin Smith, "The 16-Year-Old captures the essential spirit of the BenRiach Speyside style of single malt, with its use of European and American oak. It contains 40 percent whisky finished for four or five years in ex-oloroso sherry casks." This was from the 2012 publication of Roskrow's 1001 Whiskies book.

      It's been about four years since that publication. And back then the 16yo was supposedly 18+ years old in actuality. So perhaps last year's packaging reboot also was a product reboot.

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