Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.6%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Wine first fill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Brave New Spirits
Average price: € 95.00
Official website: www.bravenewspirits.com
Vote: 84/100
Second Benrinnes tasting from the Glasgow bottler, part of the latest release in the Cask Noir collection dating back to late 2023.
Barrique ex Chateau Pontensac red wine first-fill (quite a risk), with February 2009 distillate bottled in March 2023 in 262 ask strength bottles, matching previous year’s release, also by Benrinnes but in an ex-Saint Emillion Grand Cru cask (where Ruthrie wandered in the Bordeaux area).
Lyne of Ruthrie is a delightful waterfall on a loop trail near Aberlour (and Benrinnes), but it was also the name of the distillery for a brief period between its foundation and rebuilding after a flood in 1835, hence the name chosen for this bottling.
Tasting notes
Red wine in profusion as an olfactory welcome, with acidic and pungent red fruits (currants, raspberries, sour cherries in syrup), partly graced by a softer profile of cherry tart, custard and marshmellow. The cask can be fully felt, but time allows an undercurrent of toffee, sugar paste and sulphurous notes to make their way through the vines.
Rather aggressive at the mouth, with the alcoholic exuberance taming itself in short order to make room for brushstrokes of spice (cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg) on the red fruit juice, whose sour sweetness is punctuated by vegetal notes of rhubarb, tea leaves, liquorice root and hints of coffee candy, hazelnuts and custard. The addition of water brings balance to the initial ardour (and messiness, let’s admit it), the flavours compact, finding the balance between the red and the vegetable and pastry parts, with the spices pleasantly raising the volume to seal the deal.
The finish is quite long and spicy, with red fruits, liquorice, vegetal and mineral notes, and red candy.
Cask strength is not always a plus, but gives you the advantage of being able to personalise your experience, and in this case dilution certainly benefits the dram, making it less edgy and more graceful. Who loses out is perhaps the essence of Benrinnes, somewhat hidden by the cask, but then again, getting lost in the Medoc is not without risk.