Distillery: Old Bernheim
Type: Bourbon Whiskey
Age: minimum 23 years (1990-1993 to 2017)
(from a bottle split)
"Black Bull" carries a Testosterone-filled Grrrr Manly Grunt connotation, so it worked as a strong visual brand name for a Scotch whisky back in the 1860s, when the reality of the Scottish bovine was actually the shaggy, gorgeous stoner Highland Coo.
The Black Bull brand experienced peaks and valleys until it was purchased by Duncan Taylor in the 1990s. DT then gave the brand a reboot in the 21st century, offering NAS, 12yo, 18yo, 21yo, 30yo, and 40yo blends. Nearly all of the whiskies younger than 40 flexed a 50%abv, sherry casks, and a high malt content at a competitive price.
I reviewed the first batch of the 30 year old, which was nigh on divine, back in 2018, and thought I'd also reviewed my sample of the 12 year old. But to my surprise this year, I found that 12yo sample still filed away. So here it is, nearly nine years after it was bottled by Mr. Chemistry of the Cocktail himself:
Just a few things have changed since February 2015, but is the sample among those things???
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pic source |
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from the bottle being reviewed |
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pic from Whiskybase |
Benromach 10-year-old arrived in 2009, ten years after Gordon & MacPhail restarted the stills. The entire range kept the label style seen in the first bottled on the left in the picture below, though in different colors for different expressions. In 2014, Benromach shifted to the style seen in the middle bottle, just as the 15-year-old saw the light of day (or the fluorescents above the shelf). And when the 21-year-old arrived in 2020, the design changed again.
Shifts in packaging design often trigger expectations of changes to the products within, with Talisker and Arran being two examples I've explored previously. It's time to find out how reliable ol' Benromach 10 fared across one decade.
Benromach 10 year old bottled 2010 | Benromach 10 year old bottled Aug 2019 | Benromach 10 year old bottled Dec 2020 |
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Nuts Nuts Nuts to the nose: hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Brine, mint, and orange peel mix seamlessly with the peaty smoke. Limes, cantaloupes, and a smoky vanilla bean stay in the background. | Lovely smoke blankets the nose. Hot asphalt, dead leaves (and the dirty ground?), and dark chocolate fill the middle. Dried mango and dried cherries emerge with time. | This one's nose offers the most obvious Oloroso note, which balances well with an earthy peat. Grape jelly rings and mothballs stay in the background, and an apricot jam note appears after a while. |
Much heavier smoke here on the palate, but wait, there's more! Hay, toasted oats, dried currants, dried blueberries, anise, and hint of sweet oranges mingle below. | The palate matches the nose's style well. Salty smoke, bitter chocolate, and orange peel up top; tart cherry compote on the bottom. The bitterness and tartness blend and expand after 30ish minutes. | It has more honeyed, vanilla US oak on its palate that the other two. But the dried cherries, ultra tart citrus, milk chocolate, and cayenne pepper keep the tannins in check. |
It finishes with smoke from a spicy cigar, dark chocolate, and tart limes. | The smoke gets sootier in the finish, and has a good industrial touch to it. Hay, bitter citrus, and a smidgeon of sweetness round it out. | The sweetest of the three finishes, full of oranges, mellow peat, and a lil' cayenne bite. |