Wednesday 24 September 2014

Benriach 12 Year Old Sherry Wood Review

Benriach - 12 Year Old - Matured in Sherry Wood - 46% abv.

Benriach is a distillery that is celebrated by many and has been making non-chill filtered, colouring free whisky. Its honestly a style I have trouble figuring out though. I've a few different of their products and I never feel like there is a family resemblance there and they don't really sing to me for some reason. I always feel like they are good quality products, but just not my style. I think one can depend on them, but I think you also need to like the style.

Colour: Copper.

Nose: a fairly creamy nose of grape, currents, and maybe even cherry. Brown sugar and jam. Almost reminds me of maple syrup on a waffle with a dollop of jam.  As it opens, you get banana on the nose as well.  Interesting that if you add some water and wait a while, this gets a sort of coca-cola smell to it.

Palate: bright and fruity on the palate and a sweet then little into dryness and a bit of bitterness (not unpleasant). Banana, stewed cherry and cranberry in sugar lead into some spices. Juicy is a way to describe this one. And its clean.  I would say that this one is better without water... just personal opinion.

Finish: drying with medium persistence and finishing into the upper chest.

This is a whisky matured in some combination of wood including sherry woods. Given the drying quality, my guess is that one of the woods used is Oloroso sherry casks. Its good stuff but I usually look to sherry-aged whiskies to be richer and mellower while this is more bright and crisp.  When would I drink this? I would say this is one of the few sherried drams that makes more sense as an aperitif than a night cap.