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	Benriach
			Sample
O.B.	10 years	17
	Curiositas	15 1/2
	Authenticus	19
	Triple distillation 1998		17
	Single Cask 1978, moscatel finish		17
	Single Cask 1977		18
	Single Cask 1979
	Single Cask 1984		19
	1976, for the Nectar Belgium	20
	Single Cask 1976
	1978, Moscatel Finish		18
Douglas Laing	Old Malt Cask, 18 years	18
Jean Boyer	Best Casks of Scotland		15
	Glenriach 3 years
The Whisky Exchange	Single Malts of Scotland, 23 years
	Single Malts of Scotland, 21 years	20

 

 

Benriach 10 years
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

This pleasant whisky has some strong malt hints. The taste confirms the nose, with however some subtle citrus fruit notes (orange and sweet lemon). The finish is rather long which prolongs the tasting pleasure. This whisky, rather recent on the market, should be better known, and its price is really competitive
.
During a second tasting, the pleasant and subtle taste changed slightly the quotation.

A third tasting confirms the first one. The interesting finish with some nut hints completes the whole.

The nose reveals some hints of smoked fish, on a background where malt and citrus fruits are mixed. In the palate, a slight perfumed acidity, recalling clearly oranges, and the rather complex taste develops from citrus to cereals before ending in a nice but relatively short finish with woody touches. A very interesting bottle, and the pleasure it gives seems to grow at each tasting. (is this the effect of aeration?)

The nose is both sweet and salty, with a touch of fresh cut grass. En the palate, a nice sweetness, slightly woody and rather complex preceeds some citrus fruit hints. The finis is lingering, slightly bitter but however rather sweet, with some vanilla touches. A well balanced but contrasted whisky.

 

 

Benriach 10 years Curiositas
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	40%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

Peat, peat and peat again. In fact nothing else. The same impression of a lack at complexity in the palate, again clearly dominated by a kind of rather sweet peat. A sweet but rather tasteless finish.

The nose is very peaty, but however, unlike the first time I tasted this bottle, rather refined. There are now some citrus hints behind the peat. In the mouth, this monotonous domination of peat is still present, but more complex than at the first tasting. The finish is marked by some discreet notes of liquorice and is slightly woody. This bottle definitely needs an aeration period before revealing its actual qualities.

 Comment by Johannes Sauer

Colour: Bright Golden
Nose: A nifty whiff of peat, later rather amusing associations like Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper (light) and waldmeister sherbet powder come up, like kinda fizzy lemonade, a rather chemical fruitiness, something I liked to lick in the schoolyard many years ago. A mix which makes lot of fun but lacks some deepness.
Taste: The palate senses strong peat and very pleasant wooden bitter notes, any fruitiness (chemical or natural) seems to be gone. With water rock sugar shows up, but the fruitiness of the nose misses and so does any complexity.
Finish: Clean and prickly, not long, but the pleasant herbal bitter lingers for a while.
Conclusion: Great aperetif, a very nice dram for the peat friend without great demands, but if it tries to compete with an aver! age Islay-Peat-Whisky it will come off worse (in German they say: pull the shorter one...)
Date: Nov.10/08
Price in Germany ca. 35,00 Euro

Benriach 21 years Authenticus
Age	21 years
Alcohol percentage	46%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

A very nice nose. Freshness mixed to clear peaty hints, in a perfect balance. In the mouth, the first impression is peat, rather oily and a kind of malty sweetness on the foreground. A kind of liquorice impression crowns the whole. A very nice finish as well, where woody impressions are followed by peaty and slightly acid ones. A nice success, very balanced, much better than the 10 years old Curiositas.

Benriach 1976 for The Nectar, Belgium Cask 8080
Age	30 years
Alcohol percentage	52%
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

What a great and impressive nose indeed. Mix of freshness with light peat fragrances. Fruit and chocolate. Nutty notes, some smoke and a promise for a very nicely balanced whisky.
In the palate, this balance nears perfection. Slightly acid notes associated to woody memories. Cooked green apples prepared with a infinite variety of spices and hints very closed to nice teas. Really excellent!
The finish is just as long as you could dream and the mouth pleasure prolongs for many minutes.

 

Benriach Old Malt Cask 18 years 10/1985-09/2004
Age	18 years
Alcohol percentage	50%
Bottler	Douglas Laing
Cask	refill barrel
Price/litre

The nose is clearly floral, perfumed and with some clear hints of honey with some slightly acid touches. The same floral impression is present in the palate, rather complex with the same honey touch on the background. The finish stays on the same notes, with a rather clear eucalyptus touch.

Un nez très intéressant, avec des notes de miel fumé mêlées à de très beaux relents fruités et floraux. Une certaine fraîcheur agrumique se dégage également. En bouche, ce whisky est d'abord sec, puis passe par une phase d'amertume avant de révéler des beaux goûts fruités, derriere un léger nuage de fumée. La finale est assez longue, et très intéressante, avec une pointe parfumée d'eucalyptus.

 

Benriach The Single Malts of Scotland Vintage 1984
Age	21 years
Alcohol percentage	56.7%
Cask	Sherry hogshead
Bottler	The Whisky Exchange
Price/litre

A marvelous nose, very clear, consisting of a subtle mix of grilled spices and hints of smoke. Exotic fruit, lots of flowers, a rare complexity for this whisky which is much more than simply nice. After such a nose, the mouth could be deceiving.
Not at all. First a kind of woody bitterness quickly followed by a very pleasant acidity to develop on a nice palette of various tastes from refined wood to half ripe exotic fruits. A continuous balance between bitterness and smoothness.
The finish is very long and prolongs perfectly the palate impression. Really an exceptionally good whisky.

Benriach The Single Malts of Scotland Vintage 1984
Age	23 ans
Alcohol percentage	54.2%
Cask	Sherry hoghshead
Bottler	The Whisky Exchange
Price/litre

Benriach Best Casks of Scotland 1996
Age	8 years
Bottler	Jean Boyer
Alcohol percentage	43%

The nose is quite sweet, a bit honeyish with just a touch of acidity and does not announce a great complexity. The mouth is much like the nose was, A sweet spirit without lots of character nor complexity. Fortunately, this touch of acidity makes is less monotonous in the palate. The finish is not too long and is dominated by the malt.

Benriach Glenriach 3 years
Age	3 years
Bottler	Jean Boyer
Alcohol percentage	40%

Benriach 1978 Moscatel finish
Age	29 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	52.2%

Quite a pleasant nose marked by marshmallow hints and a great smoothness recalling the best sherry agings. A perfect nose anyway.
In the palate, a very complex mix of slightly woody notes, a bit of citrus acidity and a nice smoothness and above all a great balance and a remarkable roundness.
The finish is very long and keeps the memory of this very nice woody hints for minutes. No sweet sensation in the finish of this nice whisky.
No trace of bad finish, as it is too often the case with sweet wine finishes. A great success.

Benriach 1978 (bottled 7-2008) Moscatel finish Cask #4412
Age	30 years
Bottler	Official

The nose is rather pleasant, mixing some woody notes to clear winey ones. I could have said "sherry" if this sample had been tasted in a blind session... The smell is close to plum jam.
In the palate, the same (not unpleasant) impression of wine and heavy sweet notes and some slightly acid hints, the whole within discrete woody notes.
The finish is long and warm, still dominated by the same aromas than the mouth and nose were.

Benriach 1976 Single Cask #2014
Age	32 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	50.3%

Benriach 1977 Single Cask #7186
Age	31 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	51.3%

A nice nose, somewhere between malt and fruit, very vegetal and quite fresh. A mix of smooth impressions and peppery notes give this quite a complex character.
The palate is very pleasant, with this mix of acid notes and very nice fruity hints. However the addition of fruit and acidity do not result in citrus fruit notes, but something like green apple and balsamic vinegar.
The lingering finish perfectly prolongs the mouth, with alternately fruity and acid notes, the latter being slightly metallic.

Benriach 1979 Single Cask #10771
Age	29 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	51.2%

Benriach 1984 Single Cask #33038
Age	29 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	53,5%

A very beautiful nose consisting of spices and fruit. Some nutty hints as well.
A very balanced and round palate with however an unexpected but quite pleasant acidity. Peppery tangerine with some woody notes behind.
A very nice lingering finish, with this persisting impression of both citrus fruit and malt.
Really great art.

Benriach 1998 Triple distilled Single Cask #18623
Age	10 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	59%

The nose is both smooth with its marshmallow hints and slightly tingling with notes of smoke and green wood. Quite an unusual nose.
The mouth too is amazing. Acid notes (like acid drop) and a high percentage of alcohol characterise the palate which remains however very interesting. We are far away from the old Benriachs, but this expression, both strong and fresh seems to prepare the way to another kind of whisky, far from traditional ones...
The finish is lingering, strong and fresh.
This whisky is very interesting because it is another kind of experience, but it is far from the whiskies I use to appreciate.

Benriach Arumaticus Fumosus Peated Malt - Dark Rum Wood Finish
Age	12 years
Bottler	Official
Alcohol percentage	46 %

Comment by Johannes Sauer

Colour: Sweet white wine, bright gold
Nose: Very busy and refreshing, there's wooden smoke combined with a surprising sweet deepness and also a clear chemical note (terpentine or photo developer, leather polish). Later there is dried tropical fruits. Very interesting but in my book not round and balanced.
Taste: The first impression is smoke again, fresh polished leather, the fruits are too weak for my taste, but the chemical element is mellowed by deep and sweet cane sugar and so it's not at all disturbing and very pleasant.
Finish: Medium short but very lingering, with some different shades showing up: Some more different fruits, wooden roots, moss and bitter herbs, lemon peel, the chemicals decreasing little.
Conc.: A very interesting dram, showing what two more ! years in a rum cask can add to a whisky. But it cannot add what I call complexity.
Date: Nov. 19. 2008
Price in Germany: 40 Euro