Review #129: Benriach 27yr 1983/2013, 48.9%, OB, Batch 10, Peated/Virgin American Oak Finish, C#7188, 257 bottles

some of these finishes seem kind of dumb

This is from Batch 10 of Benriach's single cask bottlings, which I guess is already a year old. It seems dumb to put beautiful 27 yr old whisky "Virgin American Oak," but at least it's not tawny port. It's probably best to think of this not as adulteration, but as capturing whatever was lost by not blending different barrels, while still preserving the distinctness of the single cask. Hah!

nose: actually, this is pretty brilliant. The fruit is covered over a little bit, but it's still there: ripe apples and squishy plums with a cherry or two thrown in. Mixed up with that is a wave of bourbonny flavors: banana, vanilla toffee, a little bit of coconut and oak spice. The mixture almost feels like a richly sherried malt, but with a demerara sweetness. The peat is a nice phenolic accent: it's definitely there, but everything else is overpowering.

palate: the peat comes out little more, and feels a little acrid at first. there's still lots of plummy, sweet fruit, though, along with a slightly more subtle apple orchard and completely unsubtle vanilla candy. maybe a little too sweet, but it all holds together well.

finish: the peat develops into a more organic range of flavors, and then a wave of bananas foster washes everything else away. then the peat comes back. and the fruit. then the peat again.


I feel like I'm being tricked here: just a sneaking suspicion that they took a mediocre cask and made it seem like it's really tasty. I'll fall for it, though.

score: 89