Benriach whilst already a mainstay with the Scotch community, has been undergoing a revival more than a decade in the making - one that is only now just coming into its own and more than warrants us taking a closer look.

The Life And Times Of Benriach

The distillery goes all the way back to 1898 - it was nearing the turn of the century and the prolific whiskymaker John Duff (who had also established the likes of Longmorn Distillery) was well on his way building his Scotch making empire, strategically choosing sites to build his various distilleries. After Longmorn quickly struck success, he would next choose a scenic small hill to be the spot for his next venture, Benriach Distillery, with the name itself taken to refer to its location - "Ben" meaning hill and "Riach" being the name of the farm located there. This was just north of the famous Speyside region that is today famed for its richer, Sherried style whiskies, Benriach being one of them.

You can count with two hands the number of Scotch distilleries that still do floor malting, where barley is laid on concrete floors and plowed by hand, which creates a more robust flavour in the whisky. 

Yet, it wasn't too long before Scotch makers would face a turn of tides, now staring down a crash as a result of there being too many distilleries around - in hindsight we now know that this proved to be a wave that made sure only the most innovative of distilleries would survive. And so Benriach would quickly shift gears and move towards providing floor malted barley for Longmorn instead - Benriach would stay silent for the next 65 years, waiting for its time to roar back to life. Throughout that time, the distillery was always kept intact and maintained to ensure that it was ready to become operational again when the time was right.

Going into the 1960's, Scotch whisky was back in vogue - it was the high times once again, and thus the owners of Benriach were now ready for the distillery to stage a comeback. After a successful renovation, by 1965 the distillery was fully ready to produce whiskies as it had done so back in 1898 when it had been first established. Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of the distillery was its ability to produced a classical style of whisky made with malted barley smoked with Highland peat (which unlike Islay peat, is more heathery and earthy, as opposed to being briny and medicinal) - this was unusual considering that the Speyside region was and is known for its focus on unpeated Sherried whiskies. Yet this was possible given Benriach's long honed ability where it came to malting barley, having made that its sole activity for some six decades. 

Benriach remains possibly the only Speyside distillery to produce peated whiskies using Highland peat.

Benriach Into Modernity

Whilst the ability to uniquely produce a classical style of Scotch whisky made Benriach highly sought after for the flavours it could add to a blend, it wasn't until 1994 that Benriach finally took to the market under its own name, debuting the first Benriach single malt. As Benriach became increasingly valuable in the Scotch scene, more resources were poured into developing and advancing the distillery - this also meant more innovation, and Benriach would now develop three styles of distillation: classic, peated and triple distilled.

Benriach rising.

Over the years the Scotch distillery would change hands numerous times, yet crucially would land in the hands of Billy Walker in 2004. It was under Billy Walker that Benriach would now hone its use of a range of more exotic casks that further expanded the spectrum of flavours that its whiskies could offer. Benriach's already characteristically fruity whiskies would now become even more flavour packed, bold and forward. By 2015, the distillery would be given the honour of receiving the award for Global Whisky Distiller of the year by the prestigious Icons of Whisky Awards. In 2016, the distillery would once again make a move, this time to its current owners, Brown Forman, a distilling giant (which emerged from Bourbon icons Old Forester, Jack Daniel's and Woodford Reserve) that could accord even more resources to the distillery. 

Rachel Barrie, the Dame of Whisky.

And if Billy Walker is known as the Wizard of Whisky, then Dr. Rachel Barrie is surely known as the Dame of Whisky, and thus since 2017, has taken over the helm of Master Blender for Benriach Distillery, and has since led the distillery on its way to revitalising itself, now finally ready to truly share its history that it has sat on for the past five decades.

And so it's just as opportune that we're going to taste Benriach through the ages - Benriach The Twenty Five, Benriach The Thirty and Benriach The Forty.

Let's go!

Whisky Review: Benriach The Twenty Five (Benriach 25 Years Old), 46% ABV

Starting off with the 25 Year Old, this is made with a combination of unpeated and peated whiskies, matured across four cask types - Sherry, Bourbon, Virgin Oak and Madeira Island Wine. The whiskies from each cask type, matured for at least 25 years, are then married together for the final expression.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Gold

Aroma: Lush bouquet of honey topped with brighter hits of gooseberries in both jams and compote. It cusps brightness and richness. With time, more tropical fruits emerge, with wafts of guavas, starfruit and pineapples. More fleshy white fruits show up as well with fresh longans and mangosteens.

Taste: The smokiness really starts showing up proper on the palate, with a gentle ashiness to the otherwise honeyed and rich body. More on maltose candy with a mentholated quality of eucalyptus. A deeper and darker type of fruity sweetness comes through, with stewed plums and prunes, fig jam, raisins and some mulled wine as well, all of which comes through as a rich yet supple sweetness at the back.

Finish: The smokiness persists into the finish with some cold sweet ash. The honey carries through as well, this time along with sweet vanilla cream and pine nuts. Into the finish there's some savouriness of charcuterie meats as well.

My Thoughts

A really nice and refined yet bold whisky here - it has this very much resolute presence where its firm and muscular yet that holds behind this subtle and gentle elegance. At first nosing, we find all these brighter exotic fruits, aromatic yet elegant and airy - I find the word ephemeral rather overcomplicated, but that's really what it is - it gives you the impression that we're in for a light, summery whisky. Sweet, fruity, delightful and easygoing. Yet when we get to the palate we find something more bold with the smokiness coming through albeit gentle and sweet and earthy, along with a deeper and more sensual menthol that fades to give us all these deeper and darker stewed fruits and mulled wine. It carries through really nicely into the finish where it moves away from the darker fruits and into a richer quality of cream, sweet ash, and pine nuts. It's evocative of a bruschetta topped with ricotta and pine nuts, drizzled with honey, along with a side of prosciutto cuts.

Very enjoyable - it's got great presence, has this refined quality and an understated complexity that keeps itself approachable yet catches you off guard with how bold it is.

Whisky Review: Benriach The Thirty (Benriach 30 Years Old), 46% ABV 

This comes from peated whiskies, aged across four cask types - Sherry, Bourbon, Virgin Oak and Douro Valley Port. Again, the whiskies are drawn from the various casks and then married together for the final expression. 

Tasting Notes 

Colour: Amber

Aroma: This immediately feels darker, thicker and more earthy or perhaps autumnal. It opens with brown sugar, caramel, which coats the raisins, figs, stewed plums. It continues to fan out into leather, browned leaves, dried heather, dark chocolate shavings. Towards the outline, there's still some of those brighter gooseberries, with the plum jam and some eucalyptus not far behind.

Taste: Really rich on the palate, it's the brown sugars, plums, prunes, leather, tobacco leaves, dark chocolate. It's really concentrated, deep, dark and rich, with this earthy, autumnal quality. It trails off into the finish with some brighter tropical fruits of gooseberries and mangosteens.

Finish: The brown sugar and toffee persists, as do the leather and tobacco leaves, here taking on a little more spices of cloves into the finish. Long, alittle more dry, with some browned leaves and forest floor mustiness.

My Thoughts

This one comes off very differently, here the age really comes through, bringing with it a more polished quality - think cigar boxes, whisky lounges, a hunting lodge. It's much more earthy yet keeps that lovely richness, therefore showcasing shades of that autumnal profile. That said, I have to admit I could find no peat here. This is far more classically Speyside, and a really tasty one at that. It's got that deep, dark, concentrated old school charm, yet keeps that juiciness and approachability at its core. 

It's really consistent from nose to palate and finish, and at times you'll still find some of that more youthful, brighter tropical fruits still peek out alittle, before it returns to that earthy richness. What's really impressive here is how it takes you through such depths of its earthiness and yet showcases such finesse - it's never too dry or musty, nor thin. It keeps firm that rich concentration and lets you slowly savour it as it showcases various nuances that are all really well expressed. This was a very enjoyable dram that I found incredibly, incredibly charming - the perfect profile for a Speysider in my humble opinion. 

Whisky Review: Benriach The Forty (Benriach 40 Years Old), 43.5% ABV

Finally we come to the Benriach Forty! This comes from whiskies matured in Bourbon and Douro Valley Port Wine casks.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Surprisingly fresh, fruit and candied - gooseberries and black grapes in the form of tanghulu (maltose candied fruits), with all this vibrance of black grape gummies and sweet yellow raisins. It's candied and rich, almost Cognac like. Enveloping it is a veil of incense and frankincense, oriental, exotic and alittle musty as in that of a temple. With time, heady yellow florals of chrysanthemum tea emerges, along with some more herbal qualities of dried traditional medicinal roots and dried heather.

Taste: Remarkably candied here, more of that maltose, this time sitting beneath a spread of raisins yellow and black, sprinkled in with cardamom. Medium-bodied, it continues to open up with vibrant and candied fruits of black grapes and grape gummies. It's concentrated and so juicy, with almost a supple quality to its core. Into the finish, it takes a lightly dry yet aromatic tone of black tea and angelica roots, again giving it an almost herbal quality.

Finish: Those herbal roots persist, with more on dried angelica, yet so do the juicy and sweet black grapes, this time coming through coated in brown sugar. It recedes into a subtle bitterness with also some rancio of dried sour plums making an appearance. Black grape gummies linger on the finish.

My Thoughts

This was such a delightful surprise - the freshness on this is so surprising! With all those vibrant fruits, you'd never guess this was a staggering 40 years old! And yet how could you not given the chiselled elegance and the ease at which this displays such precision and radiance of flavours that only come with age - those heady yellow florals of chrysanthemum, the exotic frankincense, the herbal angelica roots. This nails complexity and elegance with such grace and poise - it's reminiscent of a well-aged Grande Champagne Cognac. 

What is particularly stunning about this is also how seamless and intentional this feels - two qualities that almost feel at odds with one another. Not a speck out of a place and yet it somehow makes it feel so easy and natural. It's perfumed, opulent and yet so well executed - these bold and intensely vibrant flavours that somehow feel like they flow so naturally. A truly stunning whisky - that candied herbal quality has propelled this to amongst the top in my books.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot