Review #117: Benromach Peat Smoke 2005/2013, 46% abv, OB, 67 PPM, aged in first-fill bourbon barrels

more Benromach

67 ppm is really a lot of peat -- it's higher by a fair measure than any of of the Kildalton distilleries. Of course, the phenols in the malt might not make it through the still ...

nose: well, yes, there's peat, but no, not twice as much as Lagavulin. It's an oily and sooty peat, with some funky vegetal notes in back, and then something like the inside of an angry vacuum cleaner (I imagine). There's not a whole lot else going on, but there are lots of nice sweet lemon drops, some furniture polish, and a cracker.

palate: sweet and then peat. gumdrops for an instant, and then the peat: inky and phenolic at first, opening up into weird humusy notes.

finish: sweet, oily, prickly, long. it really is very sweet -- maybe they should put ppm of sugar on the bottle, too.


I find it a little strange that (almost) all the peat monsters (that's lower case) have taken to sweetening up their distillate so much. But it works well in this case -- everything is well integrated and comfortable, even if not super-exciting.

score: 85