Review #116: Benromach 10yr Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 43%, OB

everybody's doing it

There have been a lot of reviews of this recently, occasioned, I guess, by the new packaging. I still have a bottle in the old kit, which I like better anyway. I haven't actually seen the new design in person yet.

This is the little distillery that Gordon and Macphail bought and re-fitted so that they'd still have access to whisky. The 10yr, I hear, is 80/20 bourbon casks and sherry casks, and then gets another year in oloroso butts for fun.

nose: stunningly deep and complex. lots of malt character under layers of smoke and sherry fruit. apples and pears, metallic notes, mint, dried apricots and plums, vanilla custard, toast, and oak spice. The peat is gentle and sooty, but runs through everything else. Some rubbery notes, too -- maybe that's from the sherry?

palate: curiously rich for 43%. smoke and honey, butter and tangy marmelade. bread and exotic wood.

finish: more phenols, sweet creamy fruit, a little licorice.


This is so far beyond most other standard bottlings it's hard to know what to say. There's no way that the price and quality stay on this level -- look for it to double in price and become half as good. (There must be some older whisky, and some really amazing sherry casks, in there.)

score: 88