Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Brown Forman
Official website: www.benriachdistillery.com
If you go peeking through the articles on BenRiach, you will find among the oldest the ones dedicated to the core range from a few years ago: different graphics, different names, and definitely different quality.
The arrival of Rachel Barrie as Master Blender for the scotch whisky section of the colossus Brown Forman radically changed things, first of all getting rid of insignificant names such as Curiositas, and then changing the management of the casks, with a corresponding improvement in overall quality.
After visiting the distillery a couple of years ago, I was able to get reacquainted with their distillate, and to give them credit, I decided to start with the two sides of their ten-year-old.
BenRiach The Original Ten
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry and new
Average price: € 40.00
Vote: 84/100
Released at the time of the distillery’s complete rebranding in 2020, it boasts a triple maturation on the label (already used in the old version), a sign of continuity and the Master Blender’s focus on casks.
Tasting notes
The nose has a lactic sweetness, from malted yoghurt and cream, where wet cereals are well present together with fruit (banana, apricot, blueberry, peach, baked apple), lemon tart and honey, with a touch of nutmeg. It shows a fresh youthfulness, very pleasant, with a substratum of freshly cut wood.
In the mouth, the spicy side grows (white pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon) on a good creaminess, which picks up the impressions of the nose in a tasty yoghurt plum cake, with pieces of fruit (pear, apple, banana, sultanas), candied orange, vanilla and a herbaceous background trait, combined with a slight roastiness.
Medium length finish of fruit, vanilla, malt with herbaceous traits and a puff of smoke.
For a basic whisky, at a very economical price, the balance and delicacy are remarkable, offering a pleasant and non-trivial dram, one might say light-hearted but not banal.
BenRiach The Smoky Ten
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon, ex-Rum and new
Average price: € 50.00
Vote: 82/100
Released at the same time as its unpeated brother in the 2020 relaunch, it’s the offspring of an annual distillate batch produced from Highland peat-smoked malt, blended with unpeated new make and presented in different ages and maturations. It doesn’t mirror the Classic Ten in both alcohol content, three degrees higher, and the mix of casks, with former sherry casks giving way to former Jamaican rum casks. In fact, it replaces the old Curiositas, completely reinventing it.
Tasting notes
A very clear peat on the nose with an intense, earthy, vegetal smoke, the blanket of which quickly thins out to reveal a heart that is once again fruity, declined in notes of yellow fruit (pear, apple, peach) and tropical (mango, pineapple), even grilled. Honey and the acidic component of yoghurt, more nuanced, can be found again, in conjunction with custard and Catalan cream.
In the mouth, spice is more lively than its Classic brother, black pepper, nutmeg and ginger combine with a marked smokiness from the burnt wood parts, rediscovering the good creaminess on the palate. It recalls the fruit perceived on the nose, accompanied by toasted hazelnuts, marked vegetal notes and a mineral vein in the background.
The finish is quite long and dry, of burnt wood, grilled pineapple, spices, yoghurt and toasted cane sugar.
The peat obviously turns the tables on its brother, inevitably losing its delicacy (and also its elegance), gambling without the ex-sherry casks with the ex-rum ones that seem to give some nuance in length. Interesting but, for me at least, less satisfying.