Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Sherry first fill
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Gordon & MacPhail
Average price: € 70.00
Official website: www.benromach.com
Released in September 2026, this bottling is a new addition to Benromach’s core range, something that hasn’t happened in quite some time, and it marks a significant step for various reasons: a substantial stated age, full maturation in ex-sherry casks, and a decidedly reasonable price.
In light of something similar that happened more or less in the same period for Ardbeg, I cannot help but think that this is a way in which distilleries (some of them, at least) are reacting to the crisis that is gripping the sector, aiming to enhance the growing stock of casks crowding their warehouses, which would otherwise risk remaining unused for a long time.
Either way, for enthusiasts it is still good news: a whisky fully matured in first-fill ex-sherry casks and bottled at a robust strength, ready to be poured joyfully into the glass.
Tasting Notes
Dusty. This is the first adjective that comes to mind as I bring my nose to the glass: wood dust, coal dust, old book dust, wrapping an obviously and proudly sherried profile that is anything but trivial. Dried fruit (mango, goji berries, apricot, blueberries), dark chocolate, liquorice lozenges, well-measured spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), toffee apple, leather and sandalwood incense. The smoke is faint, elegant, and the influence of the casks is pronounced but never overpowering. Hints of green tea, digestive biscuits and a breath of crispy bacon. Rich and rounded.
It is the sandalwood incense that is the first to flow across the palate, a sip with a lovely texture that carries notes of fruit in shades of red and citrus, retaining that dusty aspect perceived on the nose that gives it a slightly vintage feel despite its young age. All the elements are well balanced, from spices, fruit (sour cherries, dried plums), pastry (crème brûlée, scones with blackberry jam, chocolate), wood (cedar and sandalwood), to fleshy brushstrokes (glazed ribs) and a more assertive, though subdued, smoke. There is also a savory, mineral streak, somewhere between brine and wet stone.
Long and sweet-and-bitter finish, with a sweet, enveloping smoke that once again recalls incense (the leitmotif of the experience), together with red fruits, liquorice, chocolate, spices, citrus, and vegetal and mineral notes.
Review: Working with such active casks, which have surely only been seasoned, is a risk that Benromach knows how to master with great skill, creating a whisky with elegant balance, rare fullness, and complexity.
Vote: 88/100